Avocado production in the Bay of Plenty is expected to double this harvest – booming the region's economy with more jobs.

The Avocado Industry Council is estimating to harvest between 5.4 and 5.8 million trays this season, with about 3.5 million of those coming from the Bay of Plenty.

AIC chief executive Jen Scoular says they have been talking to pack houses which have provided them with the record estimate numbers.

'They assure us they will get the labour and the resource required for the harvest,” says Jen.

'There will be a few extra jobs in the Bay of Plenty for backpackers here for the Rugby World Cup.”

Jen says this year's crop is on target to meet the industry's anticipation of an increased yield, which is 'not necessarily happening yet”.
The AIC has a vision to be harvesting between 10 and 12 million trays by 2015.

'We have been talking up avocados for about eight years – this is the crop we've been waiting for.”

She says for kiwifruit growers in the region who have avocados too, 'it will be nice for the morale of the horticultural industry” after the negative effect of Psa.

Avocado Growers Association chairman John Schnackenberg says it's 'expected to be our biggest crop ever”.
'Bay of Plenty is looking exceptionally better, but it was exceptionally bad.

'Bay of Plenty might have doubled by 100 per cent this year.”

Not only is this year expected to be the biggest crop ever, it will also be the biggest export crop, estimated to be about 3.5 million trays, which 'introduces some interesting dynamics in the market place,” says John.

'Our primary market is Australia. The most fruit we've sent to Australia is 1.9 million trays.

'We are expecting to send in the vicinity of 2.5 to 2.7 million trays to Australia this year.”

In Australia, consumption of avocados has increased 35 per cent in the last five years.

Exporters are planning to send the rest of the trays to Japan, America and South East Asia.

'There is a limit to what Australia will take and we don't want to seriously test that limit,” says John.

'We simply are trying to put another 800,000 trays into the Australian market that we've ever put there before.

'We do know that the Australia supply at the same time will be significantly down, in fact, ironically, it's down about the same number that we're up – so the match might be okay.”

After good prices over the last two seasons, John says the industry is trying to 'wean our growers off an expectation that prices will be as good as they have been”.

John says the size profile of this year's fruit is very good, however.

'We've had a very good growing season – we've had regular dollops of rain from January right through; the chunk of the growing season.

'That's presuming we don't get a big storm – potentially a severe weather event would drop our crop by 10 per cent.

'It's not prudent to get too excited just yet.”