Avocado growers have rejected suggestions that they have altered their harvest schedule to boost prices.
Media reports this week suggested Western Australian growers had ramped up their pre-Christmas market supply to boost sales at lower prices in the lead up to Christmas, causing a post-Christmas shortage and price spike.
Avocados Australia’s CEO John Tyas disagrees, however, saying there is a limit to how much growers can vary their harvest schedule.
“It is ludicrous to think that growers would push fruit through at lower prices to create a supply shortage and demand spike that they can’t meet.
“The post-Christmas shortage was simply due to harvest delays caused by wet weather and fires in WA causing transport delays.”
Tyas also said there are too many steps in the avocado supply chain to ramp up supply. “The growers would need to contract extra pickers, and the knock-on effect is that the packers would need to schedule extra staff and more trucks for transport and this simply can’t happen at a moment’s notice.
“Growers have an annual program they need to work to in order to get their crop harvested in a timely manner.
“They cannot leave fruit on the trees too long either because the longer it is on the tree, the greater the risk of damage from environmental influences.”
Moreover, he said, leaving fruit on the tree for too long also affects the potential yield for the following year.
The industry has worked hard on its marketing over the past few years to promote avocados as a wonderful, delicious and nutritious product, according to Tyas.
“We want our fruit getting to consumers in the freshest possible state, and a consistent supply plays an important role.”
