Farmers In Australia Are Dumping Thousands Of Avocados Because There’s Too Many Of Them
Farmers in Australia are dumping thousands of avocados as there is an oversupply and the costs of transportation are too high.
Farmers in Australia are dumping thousands of avocados as there is an oversupply and the costs of transportation are too high.
A woman in Atherton in Queensland shared a viral video of an enormous green pile of perfectly fine-looking avocados, left to rot at the green waste dump.
Jim Kochi, an Atherton farmer who is on the board of Avocados Australia, told the Guardian that the avocados had been dumped as favorable growing conditions led to too many avocados.
Kochi said since last year, the demand for avocados has dropped sharply during the COVID-19 lockdown as restaurants closed, while the flooding in Queensland and New South Wales also disrupted the market.
As a result, major supermarkets are now selling avocados for as low as $1.60 to $1.80 each compared to $2 or $3.
Farms say rising shipping and labor costs are making it cheaper to simply throw away low-quality fruit, according to the Cairns Post.
Normally, low-quality avocados end up in a processing facility and turned into guacamole or other products, including face masks, according to the Guardian. However, processing facilities in Queensland are so full that farmers are throwing the avocados away at green waste dumps to turn into compost.
