Overview
Avocado on toast is back, not that it ever went anywhere. But there's a bit of urgency around tucking into the brunch staple right now, all thanks to Australia's massive avo glut. Yes, it's as straightforward as it sounds: we have too many avocados, we're not eating enough and only smashing avo onto some heated bread en masse will get us through.
Obviously, tackling the country's current avo oversupply problem isn't just about eating avocado on toast for every meal. Still, Australia does have a huge amount of avos to consume. According to a report by specialist agribusiness bank Rabobank called The 'Avolanche' of Australian Avocados, this year's avocado supply is up 26 percent on the past year per capita — which is 22 avocados for every Australian.
Remember the days when we were told that tucking into smashed avo breakfasts was to blame for young Aussies not being able to buy houses, because we were apparently spending too much money on avocado and not enough saving for a home? No one should've ever been floating that ridiculous argument, but you won't hear it now. Instead, the Avolanche report advises that Australians need to devour more avos — and not just this year, but for the next five years.
The reason for the glut? A significant maturing of avocado trees in the past season, particularly in Western Australia and Queensland, which has sparked a bumper crop. So, avos are now everywhere at the shops, and prices have been falling to entice us all to eat them.
In WA alone, Rabobank says that avocado production is up 265 percent on last year. That's a lot of guacamole needed for a lot of nachos, a lot of avo smoothies, and a lot of salads with green slivers in them — or just a lot of avo for however you like to eat it.
If you need a few more figures to explain just why there really are so many avos, Australia's avocado production for 2021–22 is estimated at 124,000 tonnes, too — and we brought in another 12,500 tonnes in imports.
Those numbers are forecast to go up as well, with domestic avocado production expected to expand by 40 percent — or 50,000 tonnes — before 2026, reaching 173,000 tonnes of Aussie avos.
RaboResearch associate analyst Pia Piggott advised that Australia will need to significantly up its avo exports to manage the oversupply issue, so it's not just up to us to eat our way out of this avo onslaught. That said, if you were thinking about having smashed avo this weekend, for brekkie tomorrow or just right now after reading the word 'avocado' a heap of times in this article, you now have a very good reason to.
For more information about Rabobank's The 'Avolanche' of Australian Avocados report, head to its website.