Gympie avocado farmer Kate Groves reveals Covid, oversupply impact

A small-scale Gympie region avocado farmer says the future looks grim amid an ongoing oversupply, although views differ on the source of the crisis.

A small-scale Gympie region avocado farmer struggling with low prices and a rapid decline in business from cafes and restaurants has revealed the grim future farmers are facing amid an ongoing national oversupply crisis.

Once upon a time, pricey avocados were blamed for millenials unable to afford a house deposit, but in the space of five years the situation has flipped.

Mary’s Creek avocado farmer Kate Groves is about to enter her second season after taking over for her retired parents, Leslie and John Groves; but an ongoing national avocado crisis where prices have declined has made for an uncertain future.

Miss Groves said an oversupply from Western Australian farmers is the biggest contributor to the market crash, after producers sought to take advantage of a gap in the harvest where supermarkets imported produce from New Zealand.

“What Western Australia have done over the last however many years is planted a lot of avocado trees to take advantage of that market,” she said.

“They can produce avocados that will come in ready from November, December, January into February, when they were typically worth a lot of money.”

But supermarkets continued to import from New Zealand, she said, which defeated the purpose of the extra trees and created an statewide oversupply.

This, when combined with Queensland farmers preparing to plant their own crops for the 2022 harvest, transformed the Western Australian oversupply into a national oversupply and drove prices into the ground.

Kennedy MP Bob Katter called the importation of produce from overseas “a national shame”. Picture: Brendan Radke

Not everyone held the same view of the source of the crisis though.

Kennedy MP Bob Katter has pointed the finger squarely at overseas imports.

“We are a net importer of fruit and vegetables in this country,” Mr Katter said on Wednesday January 19.

“This is a national shame and should be on the conscience of every patriotic Australian when they walk into the ballot box at this year’s federal election.”

Miss Groves rejected these claims, saying overseas importation of avocados between November and February was happening well before the crisis began.

In addition to the oversupply, she said farmers are also suffering a dramatic drop in wholesales from the hospitality industry as a result of the ongoing Queensland Covid outbreak.

Kate Groves and father John Groves, who has since retired, on their Mary Creek avocado farm in 2018.

She said 50 per cent of sales for fresh produce comes from wholesalers such as cafes and restaurants, but with a rapid decline in business for the hospitality industry as a result of Covid, orders were being reduced to balance the lack of demand.

“I would expect this year to be a terrible year for prices for avocado growers,” she said.