Fruit Quality Update

Autumn retail fruit quality update

The Western Australian Hass season ended on a high, with 95% of fruit acceptable in March. In contrast, the Queensland season had a poor start, dipping to 80% acceptable fruit in April before improving to 87% in May (Figure 1). The April and May results fell below the industry target of 90% and the April-May 2024 result of 91%. This decline in quality was primarily caused by a sharp increase in unacceptable bruising levels, which affected more than 8% of the fruit. Rots also played a role, with nearly 5% of fruit showing unacceptable levels of this defect.

Australian Shepard avocado quality remained above the industry target throughout autumn, though levels came close to the industry target in April, when over 7% of fruit showed unacceptable rot levels. This is the highest level of rot recorded in Shepard avocados in a single month since the project began in July 2023. Fruit sampled in Perth contributed most to this result, with over 20 percent of samples collected having unacceptable rot levels.

Figure 1. Percentage of acceptable Australian Hass and Shepard avocados at retail from March 2025 to May 2025.

Maturity of Queensland Hass improves as season progresses

The AV22011 wholesale maturity monitoring program continued in May. Dry matter results ranged from 21.2% to 30.3%, with Hass from North, Central and South Queensland assessed. A total of 12 samples were collected during May, with 11 of these samples exceeding the industry standard of 23% (Figure 2). These results show a marked improvement compared to April, when fewer than 50% of samples met the industry standard.

Figure 2. May 2025 Queensland Hass dry matter levels.

Well done to growers Costa (East Ridge), Costa (Homestead), Della Bosca, Forsyth Springs, Fresh Fields Farms, G0330, Golden Triangle Avocados, Keyes Ag Holdings, Serra Farming, Sunnyspot Packhouse and Tinaroo Falls whose fruit was sampled in May and exceeded the minimum maturity standard.

To ensure consumers have the best eating experience, ensure that fruit you harvest meets the minimum dry matter standards of 21% for Shepard and 23% for Hass. Continue to monitor your dry matter levels as your harvest progresses. More information on dry matter testing is available HERE.

For further information on retail and wholesale quality monitoring, contact Adam Goldwater from Applied Horticultural Research (adam.goldwater@ahr.com.au), or Anne Larard (idm@avocado.org.au) from Avocados Australia.

This article appears as part of the 20 June 2025 issue of Guacamole, our eNewsletter.

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