Production RD&E Advisory Panel meet for Avocado Ideation Workshop

A revised approach to the identification and creation of relevant and impactful research and development investments for the Australian avocado industry continues to gain momentum.

On the 10 October, the Production RD&E Advisory Panel members, along with guest growers and industry stakeholders from all the major growing regions, gathered in Brisbane for a Hort Innovation avocado investment ideation workshop.

They were charged with the task of providing input for further development of targeted concepts for projects aligned with the Avocado SIP.

The themes for consideration were derived from a range of areas including a SIP gap analysis, outputs from the recent Avocado R&D Forum, recent avocado topic reviews and summits and industry feedback.

The aim of the day was to agree on the strategic direction for a subset of concepts from within the Avocado SIP.

As many industry stakeholders would be aware, the Hort Innovation Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) for the avocado industry was developed through a consultation process with levy payers and industry stakeholders in 2022 and forms the guide for investment of the avocado industry levy.

During the recent ‘reset and refresh’ process initiated by Hort Innovation, the avocado industry advice mechanism underwent some changes, including the formation of a Production Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) Advisory Panel which has a key focus on production investments.

These investments align predominantly (but not exclusively) with Outcomes 2, 3 and 4 within the SIP:

  • Outcome 2 – Industry supply, productivity and sustainability: Improve industry productivity (inputs/outputs) to increase local and international competitiveness, while maintaining viability and sustainability of supply.
  • Outcome 3 – Extension and capability: Building capability and innovative culture
  • Outcome 4 – Business insights Improved decision-making in the Australian avocado industry through the use of consumer knowledge and tracking, trade data, production statistics and forecasting, and independent reviews.

With a keen focus to align RD&E investment with industry strategic priorities and be responsive to industry needs, this panel seeks to prioritise levy investments in order to deliver value to growers across the industry.

The day was a collaborative event with a strong feeling of shared goals. A range of concepts were fleshed out to articulate key challenges and desired outcomes.

From the outputs of the ideation, the Hort innovation R&D team will further consult with industry and researchers to scope recommendations for investments which will be brought forward to the Production RD&E Advisory Panel for consideration at the next advice meeting in December.

An outline of how the ideation process connects with the flow of research problems and opportunities through to projects is illustrated in this schematic here.

This article appears as part of the 27 October 2023 issue of the Guacamole enewsletter.

Reducing the impact of departure temperature on fruit quality

Increases in supply chain times may occur in coming months with consistently high supply and the potential for disruptions to logistics. Increased storage time in the supply chain can occur both prior to and post ripening and lead to higher fruit age. 

The impact of longer supply chains on fruit quality can be considerable depending on the pack shed departure temperatures of consignments. Previous supply chain project (AV18000) identified that packhouse departure temperatures are generally not meeting best practice recommendations (5°C for Hass and 7°C for Shepard) for 76% of samples. Average departure temperatures have ranged from 9 to 11°C in recent years (Figure 1 below).

Relatively short avocado supply chains of less than 2 weeks can mask the impact of less-than-ideal consignment temperatures, but once the market conditions see fruit age increase, fruit defects increase markedly (Figure 2 below). 

a) Good quality fruit when ripened upon arrival in market
b) Reduced quality when fruit is held for an extra 2 weeks in market before ripening  

Ensuring fruit leaves the packhouse at the recommended temperature sets the scene for the rest of the journey.  Refrigerated trucks are not designed to pull the temperature down if the fruit is loaded too warm. 

Real-time data loggers, suitable for monitoring product temperature and location in domestic supply chains, can cost as little as $50. The information they can provide can enable you to monitor and manage your consignments with your marketers. Fruit that may have reduced shelf life due to poorer temperature management can be pushed through to retail as a priority, ensuring it reaches the consumer in optimum condition. 

Within the supply chain component of the new Monitoring Avocado Supply Chain Quality (AV22011) project, avocado consignments will be sampled and handled in two ways: 

  • Standard treatment – Taken from the commercial ripener and kept at 20°C until medium-soft ripe before quality assessment.  
  • Challenge treatment – Taken from wholesaler, stored for 14 days at the recommended temperature, commercially ripened and held at 20°C until medium-soft ripe before quality assessment. 

The Challenge treatment will provide valuable insights into what happens to fruit quality when supply chains are delayed. Where issues are identified, the in-region project staff will be able to provide traceback services and management advice to assist growers and packers to identify methods to improve fruit quality. 

For further information on supply chain quality monitoring please contact John Agnew from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (john.agnew@daf.qld.gov.au) or Anne Larard (idm@avocado.org.au) from Avocados Australia. 

This article appears as part of the Guacamole 27 October 2023 enewsletter.

Retail Media Campaign Update

The avocado Hort Innovation marketing program invests in retail media to trigger purchase at the last point of the shopping journey. This is an important activity as consumer research conducted last year, highlighted that avocados are not on shopping lists – therefore we need to be active in reminding consumers to purchase. A comprehensive online media retail campaign with the two major retailers ran from March to June this year.

During the campaign period, 563,000 customers purchased avocados through one retailer’s online shopping channel.  Of those customers, 146, 380 (26%) were new customers to the avocado online category. In addition, weekly online sales were up 20 per cent versus the same time last year for this retailer.

With the other retailer, 99,500 new customers purchased avocados through the online shopping portal over the campaign period. 73% of customers who clicked on the tile advertisement added an avocado to their basket.

To manage investment into retailer marketing channels, Hort Innovation’s media agency approves each online activation before going live. At the end of a campaign period, Hort innovation receives detailed results from each retailer post campaign, to evaluate the activity and share updates to industry.

This article appears as part of Guacamole, the 29 September 2023 edition.

Take Note – BOM Long-Range Forecast Overview

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued the latest long-range forecast overview on 24 August, here. For September to November BOM is forecasting:

  • Below median rainfall is likely to very likely (60% to greater than 80% chance) for most of Australia
  • Above median maximum temperatures are very likely (greater than 80% chance) for almost all of Australia
  • Warmer than median minimum temperatures are likely (60% to 80% chance) for most of Australia, with chances increasing to very likely (greater than 80% chance) for western and eastern areas
  • Including likely El Niño development, potential positive Indian Ocean Dipole development, and record warm oceans globally

The following advice has been supplied to us from Bridie Carr, Senior Extension Horticulturist at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries:

Impacts of extreme heat can include floral abscission, fruit drop, reduction in fruit size, reduced photosynthesis, and root death. Protecting avocado trees from heat events starts with optimum orchard setup and healthy trees. The best thing to do for managing heat stress from heat events is to anticipate the stress and get the water on before it arrives. Hydrating trees prior to heat stress to keep stomata open is crucial, as a water-stressed tree cannot effectively respond to heat stress, and a heat-stressed tree cannot meet water demand due to closed stomata. If the stomata close the plant begins to heat up and sunburn occurs. The aim is to prevent the closure of the stomata (transpiration) which begins to take place in periods of heat stress when temperatures are above ~35 degrees Celsius. Stomata also close during light stress (low light/intensity) and water stress. Hydrating trees prior to heat stress to keep stomata open is crucial, as a water-stressed tree cannot effectively respond to heat stress, and a heat-stressed tree cannot meet water demand due to closed stomata.

Preventing heat damage to avocado can be assisted through environmental management, applying protectants, and managing nutrition.

  • Optimal irrigation management (reducing water stress) – monitoring soil moisture and temperature
  • Windbreaks (increases humidity and evaporative cooling)
  • Mulch (soil temperature cool, keeps roots cool, healthy more resilient tree)
  • Overhead misting/irrigation (microclimate management, common practice in Tristate – turn on automatically when >32 degrees)
  • Cover cropping/inter-row cropping to reduce soil radiation off bare soil (burning foliage and cooking roots)
  • White paint/sunscreen on trunks for sunburn protection before pruning trees (easier to apply before rather than after pruning)
  • Good nutrition – a healthy tree is more resilient and will withstand a heat event better than an unhealthy one

Growers also need to be considering what this may mean for future water resourcing and adjusting your business plans appropriately. The BPR has resources and further information to support you managing your orchard, under the growing section HERE.

This article appears as part of the Guacamole 1 September 2023 issue.

Supply chain quality monitoring kicks off

Supply chain monitoring recommenced last month under the new ‘Monitoring avocado supply chain quality’ (AV22011) project which will, on average, monitor 75 supply chains each year for the next 3 years. This follows on from the supply chain monitoring undertaken under the successful AV18000 project that encouraged pack sheds to improve fruit quality.

The average results for June harvest are that 88% of north Queensland and 99% of central Queensland fruit samples have less than 10% damage suggesting a good result for avocado consumers.

The project team led by Avocados Australia have been busy since the start of the project implementing new ideas to improve monitoring data collection and reporting as well as the process for undertaking tracebacks on any poor results found. Challenge tests continue to be undertaken to also give pack sheds an indication of their fruit robustness.

Results will also be shared more broadly with industry through updates in Guacamole, Talking Avocados magazine, the Best Practice Resource, regional forums and webinars. Registration for the first industry webinar on 14 August can be found here.

For further information on supply chain quality monitoring, contact John Agnew from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (John.Agnew@daf.qld.gov.au), or Anne Larard (idm@avocado.org.au) from Avocados Australia.

The project Monitoring avocado supply chain quality (AV22011) has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado industry research and development levy, co-investment from Avocados Australia, Applied Horticultural Research, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Rudge Produce Systems and contributions from the Australian Government.

This article appears as part of the Guacamole Enewsletter 4 August issue.

Supply chain quality monitoring kicks off

Supply chain monitoring recommenced last month under the new ‘Monitoring avocado supply chain quality’ (AV22011) project which will, on average, monitor 75 supply chains each year for the next 3 years. This follows on from the supply chain monitoring undertaken under the successful AV18000 project that encouraged pack sheds to improve fruit quality.

The average results for June harvest are that 88% of north Queensland and 99% of central Queensland fruit samples have less than 10% damage suggesting a good result for avocado consumers.

The project team including the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Applied Horticultural Research and Avocados Australia have been busy since the start of the project implementing new ideas to improve monitoring data collection and reporting as well as the process for undertaking tracebacks on any poor results found. Challenge tests continue to be undertaken to also give pack sheds an indication of their fruit robustness. As such the reports are now starting to flow to those pack sheds already sampled through this new project.

Results will also be shared more broadly with industry through updates in Guacamole, Talking Avocados magazine, the Best Practice Resource, regional forums and webinars.

For further information on supply chain quality monitoring, contact Noel Ainsworth from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (noel.ainsworth@daf.qld.gov.au), or Anne Larard (idm@avocado.org.au ) from Avocados Australia.

The project Monitoring avocado supply chain quality (AV22011) has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado industry research and development levy, co-investment from Avocados Australia, Applied Horticultural Research, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Rudge Produce Systems and contributions from the Australian Government.

This article appears as part of the 21 July 2023 Guacamole issue.

Retail quality & wholesale maturity monitoring restarts this month

Retail quality monitoring recommences this month, following on from the successful AV19003 project which identified improvements in the retail quality of Hass and Shepard avocados. The new project, ‘Monitoring avocado supply chain quality’ (AV22011) will deliver 3 years of retail quality monitoring at major and independent retailers in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Suppliers and retailers will receive rapid feedback on quality of their fruit at retail, with near-weekly monitoring. The new project allows for more flexible sampling, with additional feedback provided when quality issues arise, such as during transition of varieties and growing regions, or during periods of strong supply.  Ongoing retail quality issues will be investigated through supply chain tracebacks, and discussions with the major retailers.

Fruit maturity will be monitored at wholesale to ensure minimum maturity standards are met. Monitoring will be targeted at the start of supply for each growing region.

Results will be shared through monthly summaries in Guacamole, Talking Avocados magazine and the Best Practice Resource. The team will also provide updates at regional forums and webinars.

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 7 July 2023 Guacamole issue.

Avocados Australia CEO visits India & meets with key stakeholders

Market access to India is very close, with the ten trial shipments to India progressing well. This week John Tyas, CEO of Avocados Australia, made his first visit to India post-Australian Avocados provisional access into the India Market. Here is John holding his first tray of Australian avocados in India. These are Costa Group avocados grown in Queensland and John is with their importers Sudhir Suri CEO and Manav Suri COO of Suri Agri Fresh. Together they discussed the promising future of Australian Avocados in the dynamic India Market. Additionally, John took part in retail visits to Nature’s Basket, Modern Bazaar and conducted a walk-through of the Traditional Retail Khan Market and INA Market. This provided John with a comparative view of the Indian trade environment. In retail stores John saw very little point-of-sale information which suggests an opportunity for strong country of origin branding and consumer education.

John also had the opportunity to meet with AMPRO Marketing and Tejaswi Rathore (Head of Marketing Austrade Food & Beverage) to discuss marketing and category development ideas for Australian Avocados. He also met with Sumit Saran, a well-known market development consultant from SS Associates who is managing the World Avocado Organisation marketing program currently underway in India.  Talks are underway for Australia to participate in this program.

John attended special events at the High Commission and saw presentations from key Australian government representatives. While in India, he also had the opportunity to engage with the Hon. Minister Watt, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, on issues of importance to the Australian avocado industry.

We thank AMPRO Marketing for assisting with John’s visit. AMPRO Marketing will be coordinating the official Australian Avocados launch in Delhi. More information about the launch will be sent out to industry stakeholders very soon.

This article is part of the 7 July 2023 issue of Guacamole, our fortnightly enewsletter.

Spreading the avo nutrition awareness to health professionals

The “Educating health professionals on the nutrition and health benefits of avocados” project (AV20003) has been busy over the last six months improving the awareness, knowledge and attitude of health professionals regarding the nutrition and health benefits of avocado. The program is designed to encourage them to recommend avocados to their patients as part of a healthy and nutritious diet, and ultimately help increase Australian avocado consumption.

A core activity of the program is participation in health professional conferences. Australian Avocados held its third trade exhibit at the General Practice Conference and Exhibition (GPCE) held on 19-21 May 2023 in Sydney at the International Convention Centre. Australian Avocados showcased the new Avocado digital hub along with a raft of new educational and patient resources.

The conference was well represented with more than 800 general practitioners attending across the three-day meeting. Nearly 300 GPs signed up to digital e-newsletter, more than 3,000 hard copies of the new resources where distributed and more than 250 fresh Hass avocados were given away. The final conference will be on 8-9 September 2023 at the Lifestyle Medicine conference in Melbourne.

The second ‘farm to plate’ avocado farm tour also took place in Bundaberg, QLD, where a group of influential health professionals saw how modern farming delivers avocados fresh to our supermarkets. They learned how Aussie Avos are grown and saw some creative and innovative ways to use avocados in everyday meal preparation. Catch some inspiration and key insights in a video showing highlights of the day: Avocado farm tour video.

The remaining 2023 program will see Australian Avocados host two further ‘farm to plate’ tours with key health professionals as we continue to build awareness and knowledge of the health and nutrition benefits of avocados and grow greater recognition of their culinary uses.

Photos from the GPCE health professional conference:

Photos from the Avocado farm tour:

Contact:

For more information on the program please visit https://australianavocados.com.au/health-professional/ or contact Bite Communications Program Manager, Penny Eustace penny@bitecom.com.au.

Acknowledgement:
This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the avocado research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.

This article appears as part of the Guacamole Friday 23 June 2023 issue.

Targeted quality monitoring & extension coming with project transition

Industry projects AV18000 and AV19003 that have been monitoring and supporting avocado industry quality improvements since 2019 concluded in March. Both projects have advanced industry’s quality performance through increased knowledge and advice in quality monitoring and management. Key project outcomes shared in the final reports are now available (links below) includes:

  • The primary causes of suboptimal post-harvest quality were found to be: ineffectiveness of in-field disease control programs and coverage; the poor health of trees; unfavourable periods of weather; poor tree nutrition, the lack of postharvest fungicide treatment; and longer transit times in the supply chains (read more in the AV18000 final report here)
  • Hass fruit quality (Australian and imported) at retail increased to 85% acceptable fruit in 2020-22 from 78% in 2008-15. Similarly, Shepard improved to 97% acceptable fruit in 2021-23, up from 90% in 2008-15. (read more in the AV19003 final report here)

These projects have identified significant further potential to increase industry quality performance by working in a more coordinated and targeted manner under a new project AV22011 Monitoring avocado supply chain quality. AV22011 will deliver 3 years of further monitoring and support services from 2023 to 2026. Avocados Australia will lead this project in partnership with Applied Horticultural Research and the Queensland Government, seeking a further 10% increase in the proportion of fruit samples that meet industry quality standards (fruit samples with <10% internal defects).

The new industry quality project AV22011 will see both more targeted monitoring and more targeted extension services to realise this objective. Changes to industry quality monitoring will include increased retail quality sampling during periods of oversupply and transitions between varieties, and changes to wholesale maturity monitoring and storage challenge assessments based on individual supply chain quality results from previous (to be followed by updated) project report data. Changes to industry quality management extension will also include adjustments to traceback support services and quality performance reviews based on individual supply chain quality results. Industry quality management resources will also have some adjustments, including the development of a self-assessment process that will allow industry to undertake their own tracebacks, and additional webinars on project monitoring outcomes and management advice.

More information on this topic will appear in future email communications.

This article appears as part of the Guacamole 12 May 2023 issue.