I am curious as to whether the avocados in our supermarkets are likely to be new season. Does anyone know?
They are not labelled as anything other than NZ avocados. I haven't been buying them as found the end of the season fruit to be a bit discoloured and lacking in flavour.
I know I could support independent growers and buy a box but I only need 1 every 5 days or so as the other 2 in my bubble are not that keen.
Once I get more organised I will buy a box and share with friends.

Avocados to You are starting deliveries and I will be ordering a box today. Their email said that ripening time is about two weeks at present so it will be a long wait before I can sample them and report back. Yesterday I bought a couple of very nice looking and really large pre ripened avocados from my supermarket for $1.65 on special They should be ready to eat within a day or two and I hope they will be good. I would think that at that price they might not be from this season. They looked so good though that I couldn’t resist.

Yes they are new season but IMHO too early to be any good. Ever hopeful I buy a couple every now and again and regret it, as they are still pale and watery. I think growers who pick and sell too early are doing a disservice to their industry.

Agree, Stephanie - I have always regarded September to be the beginning of the season for the Hass variety, but even that depends on the season, temperature, rainfall etc. Fuerte and Reed varieties are available over the winter but I don't bother with those.

Unfortunately, the commercial growers are under pressure from the 'big boys' as I call them to get their product onto the shelves - same at Christmas when stone fruit starts appearing way too early and is inedible, and as you say, a disgrace to the industry.

There is a test that can be undertaken using a plug sample that determines the fat content of an avocado, much like the brix test for measuring sugar levels in grapes. Once it reaches a certain level, then the crop is deemed ready to pick, and if they are picked too early you end up with the pale watery fruit that you describe, or sometimes uneven ripening.

I would rather wait for a few more weeks I think.

Regards,

Barbara Anne

Thanks for your comments, a few more weeks wait it is.

For some weeks before lockdown I was getting excellent organic Hass avocados - locally grown here in Nelson and on sale at our Saturday market. I always buy them when they are green and let them ripen naturally in a slatted wooden tray with other fruit. No problem with them being watery. Maybe the area where they're grown is a microclimate of some kind...

Interesting, Karena maybe it's that lovely Nelson sunshine!

I note that the big commercial growers, and therefore supplying the supermarket chains, are mostly here in the Far North, so in a completely different climate.

Regards,

Barbara Anne

Country Calendar on Sunday night is about some growers (in Poverty Bay, I think) who are producing an avocado to beat all types we have known before! I heard something about them on radio a month or three ago. They are large, with the high oil content which makes them so delicious and skins which ALWAYS peel beautifully!

On tv1 Country calendar Sunday night 28th there is a story about a new variety of avocados grown In Gisborne & it should be very interesting. I have just read about it. Not available in shops yet but working on it. Available at farmers market stalls etc around Gisborne.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2021 04:22AM by Lyn V.

It will be interesting to watch that programme - thanks for the heads up, Stephanie and Lyn. That said, Hass would take a bit of beating. I would have thought.

Regards,

Barbara Anne

I've bought a few recently as they were large, ripe and 2 for $2.50 at my local Countdown. I was expecting them to be a bit ho hum (though they would appease my boys who have been longing for avo all winter), but these were surprisingly lovely, good flavour and texture.

Agree, Jenna. The two Large ones I bought the other day for $1.50 each turned out to be good.