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.