Avocado exports take a knock

Chaos in the shipping industry has contributed to avocado exports plunging in the past year – although the tough times for growers mean a silver lining for local avocado lovers.

Export revenue for the avocado industry was down 61% year-on-year, according to the latest Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) outlook.

Besides what New Zealand Avocado chief executive Jen

Scoular described as chaotic delays in shipping, a glut of the fruit in Australia also contributed. Prices there hit a 15-year low of $1 for a single fruit, making exporting from New Zealand uneconomic.

Normally our biggest avocado market, exports across the Tasman fell 76% year on year and about 10% of the intended export crop ended up being sold domestically.

Scoular said booked consignments missed delivery dates because of delays or changes to schedules, or ships simply skipped ports they had been expected to stop at.

One consequence was that the usual practice of staggering deliveries so avocados arrived at different times was up-ended.

Deliveries arrived in export markets all at once, leading to an over-supply into supermarkets and resulting wastage. As well, fruit that was nearing its sell-by date became unsellable.

Prices for those who did export to Australia were 60% lower than normal.

The depressed price opened up Asian markets, however, and some 1.5 million trays of avocados were sold there, almost three times the volume of a year earlier, MPI said.

Scoular said the domestic market had a 10% lift in supply but again at prices below normal.

Local sales prices were consistent throughout the entire year and provided some security for growers, Scoular said.