January Retail Quality and Maturity Report

Strong Start to 2026 for Australian Hass Quality

Australian Hass avocados were 97% acceptable in January, far exceeding the 90% industry target. This is a strong improvement on December, when acceptability sat at 90% and bruising levels were notably higher. Unacceptable bruising fell sharply from 8% in December to 1% in January (Figure 1).

In December, we also observed a relationship between firmness at purchase and bruising across the monitored cities. In January, average firmness at purchase increased in most cities, lifting the overall average from 59 to 65. This increase may have contributed to the reduction in bruising.

Australian Hass quality also significantly outperformed imported New Zealand Hass, which recorded 81% acceptability. The gap was driven primarily by rot levels. Unacceptable rot levels were found in 16% of New Zealand Hass, compared with just 1% of Australian Hass. This likely reflects differences in Hass age, with New Zealand Hass averaging 25 days from pack to purchase, versus 16 days for Australian Hass. Overall, these results indicate an excellent start to 2026 for Australian Hass quality.

Figure 1. Major defects in Australian grown fruit (December 2025 and January 2026).

Shepard Wholesale Maturity Monitoring Resumes with Positive Initial Results

The AV22011 wholesale maturity monitoring program has resumed, with two samples of North Queensland Shepard collected in the first week of February. All samples (of 10 fruit) exceeded the minimum 21% dry matter standard, with results ranging from 22% to 23%. Although variability in the maturity was observed across both samples with the lowest DM being 18.7% and the highest DM being 27.3%, this reiterates the need for an adequate sample size, before you pick.

Well done to growers Kalahari Farms and Cadorin Orchards whose fruit was sampled and exceeded the minimum maturity standard, in this round.

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 monitoring, contact Adam Goldwater from Applied Horticultural Research (adam.goldwater@ahr.com.au), or Anne Larard (idm@avocado.org.au) from Avocados Australia.

Figure 2. Shepard dry matter levels by growing region (February 2026).

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