Holy guacamole, where have all the Avocados gone?

Foodstuffs North Island Merchandise Manager - Produce Brigit Corson with Primor Head of Domestic Avocado Sales Regan Booth explain what’s happened to New Zealand Avocados.  

It’s a favourite toast topper for Kiwis, but you may have noticed Avocados have become scarce from supermarket shelves of late. So, what’s the inside scoop behind the shortage and when we can expect to see them back to plentiful supply?

Foodstuffs North Island’s Produce Merchandise Manager Brigit Corson reveals there’s a few things at play.

“The main reason we’re seeing less Avocados on supermarket shelves is because the Avocado season has run short,” she says.

Primor’s Head of Domestic Avocado Sales Regan Booth, who supply most of the Avocados for Foodstuffs North Island’s PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square supermarkets adds that New Zealand is currently sitting between two seasons.

“This hasn’t happened for a few years now, normally we have our old season and our new season mash together, so we don’t run out of product but this year it just hasn’t worked out,” he says.

Regan says New Zealand’s only other Avocado supply option comes from Australia, but says their season runs almost parallel to New Zealand.

“Australia’s Hass Avocado season starts just before ours, but by the time the product comes over here our season has usually started,” he explains.

While Avocados are scarce now, Regan says Kiwis will see supply return to supermarket shelves soon.

“Generally, the fruit matures mid-May and once it’s passed a maturity test it will go through picking and packing and more importantly ripening, which can take over a week. I expect we’ll see Avocados back on shelves early-to-mid June,” Regan says.

Brigit adds prices of fresh produce will always be impacted by supply and demand, when supply is low the prices are higher, so it’s a good time to try an alternative until Avocados are more readily available.

“It’s an opportunity to try something different on our toast in the morning.  You could go with bananas; they’re great value and are available year-round.  The price of tomatoes has come down a bit, so why not slice one of those up and add a bit of salt and pepper,” Brigit says.