It is a fruit that, anecdotally, has prevented young Australians from realizing their dream of housing.
But now the demand for avocados is so low – and production is so high – that thousands are simply dropping it.
As food prices continue to rise amid inflation, which Australia has not had for more than 20 years, scenes from our East Coast will have many tears.
SEE MORE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
Tens of thousands of fruits – some valued at 50 to 100 tonnes, valued at about $ 200,000 – have been dumped in North Queensland, a video taken at Tablelands Waste Station shows green mountains.
Manufacturers say they did not have the opportunity amid falling prices caused by oversupply and low customer demand.
Atherton local Ian De Lai expressed shock at seeing huge stocks of perfect fruit left to rot.
“Two trucks arrived and just dropped big piles of avocados. And I noticed that a lot was thrown there before, ”she said 7NEWS.
“It just seemed like tons, tons and tons of avocados would be thrown away.
“The mounds were huge – much higher than me.”
Local producer Jim Kochi has shown that demand has fallen sharply because restaurants were closed during the COVID blockade, adding that floods in Queensland and New South Wales have also been affected.
The third reason, he said, is that farmers have planted more avocado trees to meet demand.
“These trees are now coming into production and coming into production in a big way,” he said.
But now Mr Kochi says it is actually cheaper for farmers to cut losses than to pack fruit and sell it at the market.
“The cost of putting this material in a package, including labor, the cost of packaging and the cost of transportation, is simply not justified,” he said.
“So the option is to just throw it away.
“It’s not only cheaper (to throw away), you just can’t afford to put work into packaging.
“You shouldn’t invest money in fruit packaging or pay someone for shipping costs to send them to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.”
Rabobank analyst Michael Harvey told 7NEWS that the avocado industry outlook is positive.
“If you look at the longer term, the industry still has a solid foundation, in the sense that you have strong consumption inside the country, but also in export markets,” he said.
“Some of these costs will recede over time, but for now this is a problem.
“On the horizon, there are positive points in the fact that production costs should return to normal within a certain period of time, the situation with excess supply should correct itself, and demand is still growing.”
At the same time, Australia’s retail spending rose 1.2 percent in the March quarter after overcoming the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron option earlier this year.
It came after a 7.9 percent jump in spending in the December quarter as restrictions on the coronavirus eased following previous blockades of the Delta option, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
Retail sales in the March quarter were at a record high of $ 93.2 billion, up 4.9 percent from a year earlier.
“Most discretionary spending industries have experienced rising volumes despite rising prices,” said Ben James, director of quarterly ABS statistics for the entire economy.
“However, food retail sales fell 1.5 percent due to a sharp rise in prices for fresh food and groceries, combined with more consumers choosing to dine in hotel lounges.”
With AAP
https://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/shopping/thousands-of-avocados-dumped-in-queensland-with-farmers-revealing-why-tonnes-and-tonnes-tossed-away-c-6741969
