Panic buying has actually caused a glut of avocados in Aussie supermarkets, and now they’re cheaper than ever.
And get this: the avocados flooding stores right now are actually nicer than the ones usually sold to cafes, so there’s no excuse for your homemade smashed avo to be crap.
As people stocked up on pasta, flour and other long-lasting goods (not to mention toilet paper) over the past month, shoppers apparently forgot about avocados.
“We are seeing an abundance of fruit in retailers at really good value at the moment, so retailers are really trying to move as much as they can through stores,” John Tyas, CEO of industry body Avocados Australia told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“We saw a big rush on things like pasta and rice at the expense of some of the higher value, perishable products like avocados.”
Additionally, the mass closure of cafes around the country due to the coronavirus pandemic has forced producers to reevaluate where they sell their harvests.
Hospo usually accounts for up around 10-20% of Aussie avocado sales, but that’s no longer the case.
“It’s quite a lot of fruit that’s struggling to find a market at the moment,” Tyas said.
While these avocados are not consumer-grade, they may still end up in other products like in meal kits as wholesalers try to salvage a bad situation.
“What would normally be being exported at the moment is also going on to the domestic market simply because of the lack of freight opportunities,” he added.
But not all avocado lovers are rejoicing.
We’re currently in the middle of Shepard season, and yeah, some people might like them. Some might even PREFER them. But most people would argue those people are WRONG.
Tyas disagrees. He reckons Shepards still have a great taste, and noted they don’t brown easily like Hass avocados, which won’t be in season for another month or so.
“I’d encourage people to have another go at the at the humble Shepard, because it really is a great product,” he said.
We’ll see.
