2022-Week -27

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QUICKLINKS

AVOCADO OVERVIEW

SUPPLY UPDATE

In a nutshell the national production figures for last week were as follows: 

·    Week 26 - 408,074 trays harvested and consigned this week which represents a moderate increase of 9% ( or almost 35,000 trays) on Week 25, 2022 production – last week saw a lead change in terms of production with Central Qld accounting for 48% and North Qld slipping to second, accounting for 40% of this; with 5% from South Qld. The remaining 7% is made up of contributions from WA (yes that’s right, a low volume is already trickling in) Central NSW and Northern Rivers/Tamborine and Sunny coast.

·       It is forecast that a total of 289K trays will be despatched this week nationally. The Hass forecast for the next two weeks to three weeks is for between 335K to 370K trays per week. The current four week average dispatch as of this week is 402,380 trays.

Major supermarkets were quite varied in their approach to avo pricing this week with premium Hass ticketed at $1.00 to $1.50ea .  Hass market pricing has tidied up somewhat with an improvement in pricing of $1 to $2 per tray after the “blood bath” that was last week within the market. Prices ranging between $10-$18/tray for premium and a range of $6 -$10/tray for class one.  There continues to be very few bulk Hass on the market currently as what is available is being used for prepacking to service the supermarkets predominantly.

The weather in North Qld for our avocado crop has seen daytime temperatures ranging 12 to 27C with rather heavy falls last week in all growing regions associated with the tropical lows and cold snap being experienced down the east coast. Fruit quality from our packing shed has been good and we are still harvesting a major proportion of our crop in the count 14-18 sizing. A light presence of lenticel damage is noted but we continue to grade out anything with heavier marking to ensure fruit is in spec at store level.

Avocado display presentation in Qld stores this week was generally pleasing though some of the hass had a low level presence of light to moderate lenticel/nodule damage relating to recent rain in the growing region and a couple of lines with blackened skin areas indicating body rot. Fruit age ranged 6 to 14 days.  A few of the GMAX avos were found to be soft with bruising.

In terms of Avocado retail pricing in Qld shelf prices were as follows:  Aldi Qld had Hass and Gmax avos selling this week at a ticket price of only $1.19ea;  Coles Qld had NQ Hass ticketed at $1.00ea, and Gmax selling at $2.00ea; whilst Woolworths Qld had larger counts Hass selling at $1.00-$1.40/piece depending upon store location and Gmax selling at $2.00ea to $2.20ea.  The fruit on shelves varied in condition with maturity ranging very firm to yielding - some soft fruit also present which tended to indicate age.

 

RETAIL SNAPSHOTS OF AVOCADOS

Below: Coles Displays

  • Coles stores had Hass avocados priced at $1.00ea and were also stocking Greenskins Gmax avos selling at $2.20 ea. Fruit was well presented - all 7-14 days old and just yielding to firm with respects to maturity.

  • 1kg I’m Perfect packs at $5.00ea and 5pks selling for $5.00ea.

 

Below: Aldi Displays

  • Purpleskin Hass and Greenskin Gmax fruit in counts 23/25 loose @ $0.99-$1.19 each.

  • Fruit age ranging 6 to 15 days.

  • 5 piece Hass nets at $4.49 and 1kg market packs also at $4.49ea.

 

Below: Woolworths Displays

  • Stores had Howe Farming (Aus Produce Partners); Simpson Farms(Tinaroo Falls) and Purpleskin Hass avocados at $1.00 each and Greenskin Gmax avocados at $2.00 each. All avocados 8-14 days old - some fruit is yielding to gentle pressure.

  • 1kg packs priced at $3.90ea and 5 piece packs at $5.00ea..

 

BANANA OVERVIEW

SUPPLY UPDATE

National transport figures for last week was 407,118 cartons, an increase of 7.2% on the previous week or some 27,000 additional cartons. In the last week, morning temperatures have been noticeably cooler falling within a range of 12.0- to 20.5C; whilst day time temperatures have been similar to last week with a top of 27.6C -within a range of 16.2 to 27.65C across the week which for NQld is mild.  In terms of rainfall, all regions had plentiful rain as did most of the state and NSW. Mareeba received some 94mm, Walkamin 136.7mm; whilst Tully and Innisfail had falls across the week totalling 225 to 250mm. With these weather patterns industry - farm work varied according to conditions on any given day in the week. Cavendish banana bunch age is still in the vicinity of 15-16 weeks, with fruit quality generally good overall in our packshed though we continue to grade out some light scarring. Fruit bloom at this stage is still bright but as the weather continues to cool; not only will we will see bunch age increase over the coming weeks but we may now start seeing a dulling/greying of fruit appearance. This is due to cold temperatures (usually under 10C for a few hours) causing a slowing or temporary cessation of sap flow which results in the sub-epidermal layer browning/greying which reflects outward through the peel, the result is fruit with dull bloom and in more extreme cases the fruit looks grey.

Independent retailers were selling bananas at $1.99 to $2.99/kg this week.  The markets all have moderate supplies of cavendish relative to demand with fruit selling at $10-$26 per carton, dependent upon quality and quantity each agent has.

The presentation of Cavendish presented reasonably well and fruit generally exhibiting good bloom - few odd clusters starting to show a presence of dull peel but believed not to be due to growing conditions at this stage. There was a presence of minor dry scar; minor neck damage; as well as bronzing; bruising; small rub marks and sap staining.  Colour was generally good.

Retail ticket pricing in Queensland on bananas was fairly uniform this week in comparison to the week prior with Aldi’s banana ticket price at $2.99/kg; whilst Woolies offered fruit $3.00/kg and Coles also offered fruit at $3.00/kg depending upon location of the stores visited.








RETAIL SNAPSHOT OF BANANAS

Below: Coles Displays

  • Cavendish was priced at $3.00/kg. Kids packs at $3.00ea.

  • Quality across stores was quite good though some clusters found with minor skin marking. Both minor and major bruising; neck injuries, rub and general scarring also found.

  • Lady Fingers were priced at $7.90/kg. Red Tips at $4.90/kg.

 

Below: Aldi Displays

  • Stores had Cavendish @ $2.99/kg- there was a small presence of some green fruit, light bruising/skin marking and neck damage.

  • Lady Fingers were priced at $5.99/kg.

 

Below: Woolworths Displays

  • Woolworths had Cavendish bananas priced at $3.00/kg, Lil Sana kids banded clusters at $2.50. Displays were generally well presented whilst again some minor neck damage and light skin marking - a few odd clusters found spotting.

  • Lady fingers were priced at $7.90/kg, Red tips were priced at $4.90/kg and Organic Clusters $5.50/kg