The World Avocado Congress was held in New Zealand in April. Photo / Supplied
What is small and green, costs about $3 and is eaten an average of 16 times a year by New Zealanders?
The answer is an avocado.
This “trendy” little fruit packs a big punch in the Bay of Plenty.
A local grower says the region is the “powerhouse” of New Zealand’s avocado industry.
However, it is an industry struggling to be commercially sustainable and a call has been made for Kiwis to double their average intake of the fruit.
The bold goal was set at the 10th World Avocado Congress in Auckland earlier this month when about 1100 growers, scientists, researchers, marketers, retailers, innovators, and investors from 32 countries around the world spent two days visiting avocado operations in Glenbrook, Tapora, Whangārei, and the Bay of Plenty. It was an opportunity to showcase the local avocado industry to the world.
New Zealand currently produces 2 per cent of the global supply but is the ninth-largest international avocado exporter. There are more than 4000 hectares of avocado trees planted in New Zealand, primarily in the Bay of Plenty and Northland.
New Zealand Avocado chief executive Jen Scoular said 60 to 65 per cent of the New Zealand avocado industry across the whole supply chain from growers to exporters was based in the Bay of Plenty.
Scoular said while the avocado horticultural industry was still young compared to others, such as kiwifruit, there were about 900 growers in the Bay of Plenty.
The sustainability of the avocado market relied on three pillars: “People, planet, profit,” she said.
The avocado industry had been hit with some of its hardest challenges in the last two years, with extreme weather also impacting production, she said.
“We try not to harvest avocados after more than 5 millimetres of rain because it has an impact on the quality of fruit. But that is pretty hard to do when it has been raining every two days.
“The wet weather hasn’t helped anything.”
Scoular said the Australian avocado market also “completely oversupplied” itself two years ago, which saw retail prices for the fruit fall. A glut of avocados in Australia meant exporters had to pivot and a third of the crop was directed into Asian markets, she said.
Avocado supply had increased markedly, Scoular said. “And that is going to continue for the next 10 years.”
It meant the sustainability of the local avocado market now relied on New Zealanders eating more of the fruit, she said.
Scoular said New Zealanders ate about 4kg - or 16 avocados - per person each year.
The need to drive demand domestically was discussed at the World Avocado Congress where a goal was set for New Zealanders to more than double their average intake from 16 to 40 avocados per year.
“While 40 a year each seems like a lofty goal, it’s not impossible,” Scoular said. “A percentage of the New Zealand population is already eating an astonishing 16 per month.
“This is great news for New Zealand growers because we don’t import avocados, we grow enough here for the whole population, so every avocado you eat in Aotearoa supports our local economy.”
Currently, Mexico leads the world with its average avocado intake, eating its way through 40 avocados (or 10kg) per person every year, with many other countries averaging around 28 avocados per person.
“We know that 60 per cent of all avocados grown in New Zealand are eaten by just 5 per cent of our people, so there is huge potential for growth here, we have definitely not peaked.”
Scoular said delegates were determined to share the important sustainability story behind the “trendy” avocado.
“There is such an amazing opportunity for the avocado sector to promote the multitude of benefits provided by this fruit. Avocados meet the world’s need for high nutrition, they have amazing health attributes and they are delicious at the same time.
“Avocados are a source of protein, good fats and carbohydrates and they’re suitable for vegetarians, vegans, as well as those on sugar-free, gluten-free and keto diets.”
Growing up in an avocado orchard, Phil Ramsey has now reconnected with his avocado roots.
Ramsey has taken over the management of his four-hectare family avocado orchard near Katikati in the Western Bay of Plenty.
He looked after between 400 to 600 avocado trees of the Hass variety.
Ramsey said he had witnessed the avocado industry mature from a burgeoning “mum-and-pop” to a full professional industry.
“And it is still growing.”
Sustainability of the sector was “huge”, he said.
It was “not all Skittles and beer in the avocado world”.
Covid-19 had created the “perfect storm” with weather events impacting crop and exporting pressures, as well as rising costs and a fall in revenue, he said.
Extreme weather resulted in “tree death” due to water logging, with the Bay of Plenty grower losing 15 to 20 trees during the storms. “Many growers in the Bay of Plenty have had tree death.”
Despite the challenges, Ramsey said the Bay of Plenty was “still the powerhouse of New Zealand avocado”.
Katikati orchardists Maria and Andrew Watchorn bought their first avocado orchard in Ōmokoroa about 20 years ago.
“Since then, we have gone from strength to strength.”
They started with about 5ha of avocado trees to now double the size in Katikati.
“I like the challenges the industry brings. I do enjoy the outside nature of the work and the people and collaboration in the industry.”
Maria Watchorn said there was huge potential to increase the consumption of avocados and that would depend on how the Global Avocado Industry promoted the fruit to the world.
“We just need to increase our market and possibly increase the way in which we are consuming our product. That in turn will increase consumption.”
She did not believe avocados were an expensive fruit for the exceptional nutritional value they provided.
“I think you are getting really good value for money as long as you have got a good piece of fruit.”
The average price of avocados was $3.42 per piece of fruit.
Based in the country’s fruit-growing heartland of the Bay of Plenty, Radford Software Ltd began developing post-harvest software solutions for the kiwifruit sector in 1989 and has since grown to provide its applications and support to leading growers, producers, and distributors throughout New Zealand, Australia, Asia, Europe and the United States.
Radford Software Ltd’s customer success manager Royce Sharplin said its software solution aimed to help growers, post-harvest and fresh produce exporters with increased visibility and traceability of stock “from soil to supermarket”.
Sharplin said the software also helped growers manage their orchards and capture the data down to individual rows within a growing block more easily.
With the right information, operators can use the data collected more efficiently and accurately rather than a broad-brush approach, he said.
“It comes back to the fact you can’t manage what you can’t monitor.”
Sharplin said it was exciting to be able to showcase their software to the world.
“It is encouraging a software business based in Tauranga can show the world what we are doing, which is in my opinion cutting edge.”
Radford Software Ltd chief executive Adam Cuming said it had been part of the avocado industry for the last 20 years.
“About 90 per cent of New Zealand’s avos go through our software.”
Cuming said its software helped to ensure whatever was being produced met compliance standards in the different avocado markets.
“It is our part in that supply chain.”
· Mexico is the largest exporter of avocados in the world
· The World Congress is held every four years, previous hosts have included Colombia, Peru, Australia and Chile
Avocados in Aotearoa
· 1400 growers
· 1800 orchards
· 5000 hectares of production
· $123 million industry value 2021-22
· 7.5 million to 9 million trays per annum
· 14 international markets
Source: Avocado New Zealand
The jury's marathon deliberations ran for two weeks.