After nine weeks of searching with the help of a national PR campaign, Avocados Australia has found Australia’s best avocado on toast dish. Little Hideout Café (https://littlehideoutcafe.com.au/ ), based in Balmoral in Brisbane (2/185 Riding Road), is the winner of the Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition with their stunning avocado dish they call “Seasonal Avocado”. This winning dish was selected from 10 finalists.

Above, the winning dish from Little Hideout Café in Balmoral, Brisbane.

Above, an award ceremony was held at the Little Hideout Café on Thursday 28 July. Above from left, Brent Chambers from Simpson Farms (one of the growers who supply Little Hideout), Peter Marinos from Big Michael’s (Little Hideout’s providore/wholesaler), Manish Shrestha owner and chef at Little Hideout Café, and Avocados Australia’s CEO John Tyas.

The idea for the competition came from Anne Larard Avocados Australia’s marketing consultant.

“My aim with the Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition was to engage with, and champion, the food service sector with the ultimate goal of increasing avocado consumption around National Avocado Day,” said Anne Larard.

Overall the Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition resulted in achieving 52 pieces of media coverage reaching an estimated audience of around 20.9 million+. The objective of the competition was to support and celebrate the food service sector who continue to champion increased consumption of avocados and promote Australian avocados as the fabulous ingredient they are.

The Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition definitely resonated with cafes around Australia. This year’s overall winner won a public relations package promoting their venue valued at $2000. The competition celebrated how avocado toast has become an Australian icon in the lead up to National Avocado Day on 31 July. Cafes and restaurants all over Australia were encouraged to participate.

All the entries went through a rigorous judging process (20 judges) that included mystery diners tasting each dish. Each dish was judged against the following criteria:

• Overall presentation of the dish
• How strongly avocados feature in the dish
• Quality of the avocado in the dish
• Overall quality of the ingredients in the dish
• Overall taste of the dish
• Combination of flavours in the dish
• Combination of textures in the dish
• Interesting use of ingredients and/or presentation

Avocados Australia’s CEO John Tyas was impressed with this year’s entries.

“We saw so many variations of how avocado is being served with different toppings and different breads and it was wonderful to see Australian avocado as the star ingredient,” said John Tyas.

To enter the competition cafes or restaurants needed to submit a description of their avocado on toast menu item, along with photos of it plated up. The winning café item was announced on Thursday 28 July on the same day of the award giving ceremony.

The competition has proved to be a success in its first year and plans are underway to run the competition again next year.

“The Competition has a lot of potential for boosting avocado consumption and it engages with the food service sector and the public in such an effective way.”

To find out more about the winner and finalists here – https://avocado.org.au/public-articles/australias-best-avo-toast/. To find out more about the Australia’s Best Avo Toast Competition email Anne Larard at anne@producepathways.com .

This article appeared in the Spring 2022 issue of Talking Avocados magazine.