West Australian avocado growers are eyeing the Chinese export market as the “green gold rush” of the fruit shows no sign of slowing.<\/p>\n
Orchardists have begun harvesting what could be a record-breaking crop in the South West region.<\/p>\n
“We’re shaping up to have WA’s largest season on record,” Bendotti Avocados’ Trevor Bendotti said.<\/p>\n
“The previous record was set two seasons ago and we’re well on track to smash that.”<\/p>\n
WA avocado exporter Trevor Bendotti says a record season is on the cards. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)<\/p>\n
He said high yields and strong export demand had driven an influx of new growers.<\/p>\n
WA produced 36,889 tonnes in the 2024\/25 financial year, contributing to national output of 131,385 tonnes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The national record of 150,913 tonnes was set in the 2023\/24 financial year.<\/p>\n
Australia’s annual output is projected to hit 171,163 tonnes within the next two years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Bendotti Avocados packing shed in Pemberton.\u00a0 (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)<\/p>\n
Avoiding an avocado glut<\/p>\n
As production booms, concerns about oversupply and market saturation have resurfaced.<\/p>\n
Four years ago WA avocado growers were dumping produce amid a supply glut.<\/p>\n
Clint De Campo planted his first avocado block in Pemberton about nine years ago.<\/p>\n
He weathered some turbulent seasons and said it was a relief to see the market finally finding its balance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Clint De Campo has been growing the fruit for almost a decade. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)<\/p>\n
“This year things are looking pretty good,” Mr De Campo said.<\/p>\n
“Yields are up, the fruit’s clean and the prices are OK.”<\/p>\n
Mr Bendotti believes careful planning will be key to ensuring the industry’s long-term success.<\/p>\n
“Growing and picking without proper planning will be detrimental to everyone,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Managing the flow of fruit through the domestic market while increasing export opportunities becomes even more critical with the additional volumes we’re seeing.”<\/p>\n
Export markets crucial<\/p>\n
Avocado industry leaders are placing a heavy emphasis on expanding exports in order to keep supply and demand in check.<\/p>\n
In the past financial year, Australia exported about 14,000 tonnes out of the approximately 130,000 tonnes grown nationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The year before about 20,000 tonnes were exported.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brad Rodgers says China will be the industry’s next major target for exports. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)<\/p>\n
Avocados Australia WA director Brad Rodgers said securing access to new markets was crucial to ensuring the industry’s growth.<\/p>\n
“We’re rewriting our national strategy plan and export will be a big focus,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We’re working hard to secure new market access, particularly to China.”<\/p>\n
Due to its pest-free status, WA already has trade access to the Japanese and Thai markets, but China remains the coveted prize.<\/p>\n
“We’ve done a lot of groundwork there as an industry,” Mr Rodgers said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve signed MOUs [memorandum of understanding] with Shanghai markets worth around $250 million in Australian avocados, which shows just how strong their interest is.”<\/p>\n
Formal approval to export Australian avocados to China is still being negotiated between Canberra and Beijing.<\/p>\n
Industry leaders are confident WA growers will be ready to ship as soon as the green light is given.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Australian avocado growers are eyeing the Chinese export market as the “green gold rush” of the fruit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,44890,44896,22680,99,82316,38547,153284,153282,153281,153283,45],"class_list":["post-260646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-avocado","tag-avocado-glut","tag-bunbury","tag-business","tag-china-exports","tag-export-market","tag-exporting-avocados-to-china","tag-pemberton","tag-record-crop","tag-south-west-wa","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}