QUICKLINKS

BANANA OVERVIEW

SUPPLY UPDATE

The weather in the past week has been a touch cooler with early morning temperatures ranging 14.6-20.5C whilst day time temperatures have ranged 21.5 to 28C Mareeba has been relatively dry; whilst Tully and Innisfail experienced heavier rainfalls late last week in the vicinity of 50-78mm respectively but drier since and Walkamin districts have experienced daily showers of 3-4mm - the rain is helping keep it a little warmer. Colder temperatures are forecast for late July, early August which is when we may see a heavier presence of underpeel chill. With the continuation of rather mild weather, there has not been a great deal of change with respect to bunch age this week - so we are still ranging 16-17 weeks on farm.

The national cut for last week was approximately 5.4% lower than the previous week at a total of 395K cartons. 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.

There was a noticeable difference between lines on shelf this week at the major supermarkets - some lines with heavy bronzing on some clusters; others with a presence of light sooty mould and minor bruising. Colour was generally good. 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 was fairly uniform with cavendish retail tickets fundamentally at $3.50/kg. The offer varied between the major supermarkets with Aldi offering fruit at $3.49/kg; both Coles and Woolworths at $3.50/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 52% of the total harvest of some 423,281 trays last week; followed by Central Qld with 39%; and the remaining 8% came from combined regions of South Qld; Sunshine Coast, Tamborine, Northern Rivers and Tristate made a start. This production figure represents a 23% increase on week prior and also a 7% increase on what was forecast for this period. Despite the national production increasing for last week, the markets remain relatively tidy with a slight tightening of pricing. All major supermarkets are selling premium Hass at $1- $1.20 per piece, which from a customer’s perspective continues to represent exceptional value. Avocado market sales for premium trays are in the range of $11 -$18/tray. Pricing for class one fruit (main sales) is ranging $6 --$10 per tray; whilst the bulk market has been experiencing prices for premium in the range of $5 --$28/ctn depending upon grade, quality and count size.

The national production of Hass this week is forecast to be considerably lighter in the vicinity of 340,000 - 350,000 trays and then the forecast shows a slight decline each week for the next three weeks thereafter so pricing may firm up a little more.

Presentation in Qld stores this week varied. 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.

Prepack formulations on offer by all major supermarkets offer 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 $4.90 ea and 1kg I’m Perfect packs selling at $5.50ea; whilst Woolworths had the 5 pack on offer for $4.90 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 featuring in their catalogue this week as a full page feature; 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 whilst similarly 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 FOREST LAKE

Cavendish Bananas were priced at $3.49/kg - mixed condition with some bruising, sooty mould, neck injuries and mixed colour on display, around 40% green.
Lady Fingers were priced at $6.99/kg

ALDI SUNNYBANK HILLS

Cavendish were priced at $3.49 with condition of fruit including some minor scarring, but fruit bloom was good.
Lady Fingers were priced at $6.99 - a number of pairs were highly marked.

ALDI MT OMMANEY

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

BANANAS AT COLES

COLES FOREST LAKE

Cavendish bananas were displayed at $3.50/kg and kids packs at $3.50/kg (one only pack on display). Approximately 20% of the display of loose cavendish were semi-coloured but randomly mixed through display, some clusters exhibiting sooty mould, bronzing and minor scarring.
Lady Fingers were also available at $7.90/kg and red tips were $5.00/kg
This store also had Organic packs overwrap trays for $3.00

COLES SUNNYBANK HILLS

Cavendish at this store were ticketed at $3.50/kg and kids packs were the same. Loose cavendish exhibited quite varied sizing - a few clusters with small skin scars.
Red tips at $5.00/kg, Ladyfingers at $7.90/kg with quite significant marking on majority of fruit

COLES MT OMMANEY

Cavendish were priced at $3.50 as were kids packs - sooty mould and bronzing quite prominent on coloured fruit.
Lady Fingers were available at $6.90/kg and Red tips at $5.00/kg which were marked.

BANANAS AT WOOLWORTHS

WOOLWORTHS FOREST LAKE

Cavendish bananas priced at $3.50/kg- a neat continuous display featuring fruit ready to eat and a section of 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. Also found a couple of fingers that had splits.
Lady Fingers were at $7.90/kg a few clusters with rub marking and Kids banded clusters ticketed at $2.50.
Red tips were also on display for $5.50

WOOLWORTHS SUNNYBANK HILLS

Cavendish at this store were priced at $3.50/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 kids packs were at $4.50/kg

WOOLWORTHS MT OMMANEY

Cavendish were priced at $3.50/kg, the majority on show were in the Eat Now category section
Lady Fingers were priced at $7.90/kg - a number with superficial bruising, rub and a little bronzing.
Kids packs were priced at $3.50./kg and red tips were at $5.50/kg

AVOCADOS AT ALDI