Bruising increases in Hass while quality remains acceptable
Australian Hass avocados were 90% acceptable in December, meeting the industry target of 90%, but markedly lower than the 97% November result. The poorest quality was observed in Perth and Sydney, with 84% and 89% acceptable Australian fruit respectively. In contrast, Australian fruit sampled in Melbourne was of high quality at 95% acceptable fruit. The decline in quality this month is largely driven by increased bruising, particularly in Perth and Sydney. A contributing factor to this bruising is likely low firmness of fruit on display. This aligns with acceptable fruit levels across the monitored cities: Perth recorded the lowest average firmness (51), followed by Sydney (58), while Melbourne had the highest (64) (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Major defects in Australian grown fruit (November and December 2025).
Australian Hass outperforms imported New Zealand Hass
New Zealand fruit from the current season was first sampled by the project in September 2025, but has remained a small presence on shelves, accounting for just 5% of all samples assessed since then. Over this period, Australian fruit has clearly outperformed New Zealand fruit, with 92% rated acceptable compared with 75% for New Zealand (Figure 2). In New Zealand fruit, bruising was the most common defect, with rots a close second. By comparison, Australian fruit was mostly affected by bruising, while rots contributed only a small share of unacceptable fruit. Since September, Australian fruit has averaged 14 days from pack to purchase, compared with 26 days for New Zealand fruit. A shorter time in the supply chain has likely contributed to the higher quality of Australian fruit.
Figure 2. Acceptability of all fruit, Australian fruit and New Zealand fruit between September and December 2025
This article appears as part of the 16 January 2026 edition of Guacamole, our eNews.