QUICKLINKS

BANANA OVERVIEW

SUPPLY UPDATE

The weather in the past week had been relatively dry until Wednesday and Thursday which has seen 140 to 190mm fall across the two days around Innisfail and Tully whilst Mareeba and Walkamin districts have experienced just 1-3mm on a daily basis. The temperature range for this last week was a touch warmer with early temps experienced ranging 14.6 to 21.1C across the region; whilst daytime temperatures ranged between 23 to 27.1C. There has not been a great deal of change with respect to bunch age this week as the weather has been milder.

The national cut for last week was approximately 5% higher than the previous week at a total of 408K cartons, so supply can be said to be relatively steady by way of comparison. The national cut for this week is expected to be similar, within a range of 390-410K cartons. Our harvest team continue to be proactively cutting fruit that is slightly thinner in girth in order to prevent too much bronzing damage - we are continuing to grade out 10% with heavier marking. We are still harvesting fruit with 16-17 weeks bunch age.

Quality on shelf this week showed a degree of improvement with less minor skin marking overall, colour was generally good (some stores with too much of the semi-colour or “Eat Later” rather than the eat now on offer) though starting to see the presence of some dull bloom clusters throughout. Signage found on display in both Coles and Woolworths stores alerting their customers of the impact of cold winter temperatures on bananas during growth resulting in a dull bloom, yet fruit is still sweet to eat.

Retail ticket pricing in Queensland is indicative of the continued shorter supply with cavendish retail tickets still at or above $4/kg though Aldi had pulled back their price point. The offer varied between the major supermarkets with Aldi offering fruit at $3.49/kg; Woolworths at $4.50/kg; whilst Coles had pulled back their ticket price to $4.00 - $4.50/kg in the stores visited in Qld this week.

BANANA SNAPSHOT

Left to Right: Aldi; Coles and Woolworths Cavendish Displays

AVOCADO OVERVIEW

SUPPLY UPDATE

This week North Qld again supplied the majority of avocado production accounting for 53% of the total harvest of some 421,358 trays last week; followed by Central Qld with 43%; and the remaining 4% came from combined regions of South Qld; Sunshine Coast, Tamborine and Northern Rivers made a start. This production figure represents a 6% increase on week prior and also an 11% increase on what was forecast for this period. As of today, there is still a significant volume of fruit in all markets and we expect current pricing to be maintained. All major supermarkets are selling premium Hass at $1- $1.20 per piece, which from a customer’s perspective continues represents astounding value. Avocado market sales for premium trays are in the range of $11 -$16/tray. Pricing for class one fruit (main sales) is ranging $4 --$7 per tray; whilst the bulk market has been experiencing prices for premium in the range of $5 --$20/ctn depending upon grade, quality and count size.

The national production of Hass this week is forecast to be in the vicinity of 370,000 - 380,000 trays and then is forecast to be in the vicinity of 370-390K/week in the following fortnight.

Presentation in Qld stores this week was somewhat mixed both in terms of quality and stock availability with Brisbane and Townsville entering lockdown from 6pm Tuesday 28th June for three days. The humble Hass avocado is still the main attraction though both Coles and Woolworths have continued with having presence of Greenskin’s Gmax avocado at a higher ticket price than the Hass. What continues to be missing at all stores during this time of price promotion is a percentage of the display that is ripe and ready for use - the majority of fruit continues to be firm and will still require another 2 to 3 days before it is ready to enjoy which in some cases will equate to lost sales opportunities, especially for the new category purchaser, who may be tempted by the current low prices.

This week we again saw activity amongst the Prepack formulations on offer by all major supermarkets with an opportunity to move greater volumes in a single purchase. Aldi were offering their 6 piece nets on special at $4.99 ea; Coles had their 5 piece pack at $4.50 ea and 1kg I’m Perfect packs selling at $5.50ea; whilst Woolworths had the 5 pack on offer for $5.00 and the 1kg Odd Bunch ticketed at a super $3.90/bag.

Price has continued to be the driving factor whilst volumes are high. In terms of Hass retail pricing in Qld shelf prices were as follows: Aldi Qld had Hass back at $0.99ea; Woolworths Qld had prominently positioned instore displays of Hass and Greenskin Gmax Avos ticketed at $1.00 ea for Hass and $2.00 ea on the Gmax; whilst Coles in Qld had Hass at a piece price of $1 ea meanwhile selling the Greenskin Gmax Avos at $2.00 each.

AVOCADO SNAPSHOT

Left to Right: Woolworths Shepards, Aldi Shepards and Coles Shepard and Hass Avocados

STOCK IN STORES

QUICKLINKS

Bananas at Woolworths

Avocados at Woolworths

BANANAS AT ALDI

ALDI SUNNYBANK HILLS

Cavendish Bananas were priced at $3.49/kg - a degree of green fruit, but overall in good condition
Lady Fingers were priced at $6.99/kg

ALDI BROWNS PLAINS

Cavendish were priced at $3.49 with condition of fruit included a percentage being dull in appearance.
Lady Fingers were priced at $6.99

ALDI COOPAROO

Cavendish were priced at $3.49 with colour and bloom of fruit being good though a number of clusters with heavy bronzing and speckling found.
Lady Fingers were priced at $6.99 - some clusters were dull and had rub marking.

BANANAS AT COLES

COLES SUNNYBANK HILLS

Cavendish bananas were displayed at $4.00/kg and kids packs at $4.00/kg. Approximately 50% of the display of loose cavendish were coloured, the remaining 50% quite green - some fruit had skin marks.
Lady Fingers were also available at $7.90/kg, these were needing a refill also

COLES BROWNS PLAINS

Cavendish at this store were ticketed at $4.00/kg and kids packs were the same. Loose cavendish exhibited quite a number of minor defects with neck creasing, sap staining and small bat marking scars the most prolific. Some clusters were of dull appearance.
Lady Fingers were available at $6.90/kg (with a lot of rub marking), Red tips at $5.00/kg both lines were displayed in a metal tub in several layers which may be contributing to the skin marking observed.
Old promotional signage “Supporting little athletes with a 10c/kg donation on bananas” still on display - promo occurred on 1st May 2021.

COLES COOPAROO

Cavendish were priced at $4.50 as were kids packs, however both were extremely low in stock (perhaps due to the recent lockdown) Stock found on trolley awaiting to be put onto shelves.
Lady Fingers were available at $6.90/kg and Red tips at $5.00/kg which were either backward in condition or marked.

BANANAS AT WOOLWORTHS

WOOLWORTHS SUNNYBANK HILLS

Cavendish bananas priced at $4.00/kg- a neat continuous display featuring fruit ready to eat and some to eat later with bright new shelf stripping to identify this - fruit was generally in good condition apart from a couple of clusters with bronzing between fingers.
Lady Fingers were at $7.90/kg a few clusters with rub marking and Kids banded clusters ticketed at $2.50.

WOOLWORTHS COOPAROO

Cavendish at this store were priced at $4.00/kg - stock appeared to be fairly uniform though a few clusters were of dull appearance - some minor skin marking found.
Lady Fingers were priced at $7.90/kg; whilst Red Tips priced at $5.50/kg; kids packs were priced at $2.50 and organic clusters also were ticketed at $5.50/kg.

WOOLWORTHS BROWNS PLAINS

Cavendish were priced at $4.00/kg, the majority on show were in the Eat Later category section - riper bananas needed refilling.
Kids packs were priced at $2.50./kg and red tips were at $5.50/kg - Red Tips were on also Eat Later.

AVOCADOS AT ALDI