Brace Yourselves Australia, We’re Headed For Another Avocado Shortage
At least it'll be easier to save up for a house?
Exactly a year on from last year’s avocado crisis it looks like Australia is about to be smashed by another shortage of the delicious green fruit.
Junkee has spoken to a number of wholesale avocado suppliers and retailers who have confirmed the avocado shortage is about to start impacting consumers — just in time for the weekend rush on smashed avo brunches.
One Sydney wholesale supplier emailed their entire customer base this week warning that the avocado market was in “uncharted territory”.
The national shortage is being driven by a number of factors including the end of the New Zealand and Western Australian avocado seasons and a late start to the Queensland and New South Wales seasons.
The country is currently in ‘avocado limbo’ — trapped between two seasons.
Most of the avocados currently being sourced aren’t yet ripe and have a wildly out of balance “flesh-to-nut” ratio. A healthy, ripe avocado is predominately flesh, but the avocados being picked at the moment are overwhelmingly nut, with little if any edible flesh.
One cafe owner told Junkee that they had already run out of avocados and were unlikely to have any additional stock by the weekend or even next week. Another supplier said they were prioritising their orders to larger customers like fast food chains.
One cafe has already started warning customers of the avocado shortage.
A prominent Sydney restaurant confirmed that they had struggled to secure avocados and had to pay a substantial premium to ensure supply over the weekend.
Last year’s avocado shortage occurred when wholesale prices doubled. A tray of fresh avocados normally sells for about $35 dollars, but Junkee has spoken to three separate wholesalers who are selling trays for over $85 a pop.
The huge cost increase is likely to flow through to consumers, with retail avocado prices expected to double, as they did last year. Cafes are likely to either stop offering avocado products or jacking up prices. One supplier Junkee spoke too was offering pre-chopped, frozen avocados as a substitute. Gross.
According to one wholesale source the shortage is likely to go on for another few weeks.
Strap yourselves in folks, shit is about to get real.
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Feature image via Instagram