The Bay of Plenty avocado industry is working together after strong winds damaged more than 400 orchards, with some growers losing up to 90% of their crop.
Growers are collaborating with New Zealand Avocado and the New Zealand Food Network to recover and distribute fallen fruit to local charities.
Katikati grower Eddie Biesiek said the winds "completely uprooted" shelter trees and avocado trees. "Two days of continuous, devastating wind have resulted in about 60% of our crop forming a carpet of literally tonnes of avocados on the floor of the orchard," he said.
One orchard that packed fruit before and after the storm recorded a drop in export pack-out from 85% to 65%. "Fruit is unable to be marketed once it is on the ground - it must be picked from the tree," Biesiek said.
Initially, some growers considered destroying the fallen fruit, but with support from NZ Avocado and NZ Food Network, tonnes of windfall avocados are now being collected for donation. One bin holds about 300kg of fruit. Sixteen RSE workers from Vanuatu helped fill 26 bins, contributing to a total of 10 tonnes for charities.
Alistair Young, chairman of the New Zealand Avocado Growers Association, said orchards between Athenree and Ōmokoroa experienced the heaviest losses. "The winds tend to come in gusts, so the branches sort of crack like a whip. That's how the fruit comes off pretty quickly," he said. The industry is collating damage reports for MPI.
New Zealand Avocado chief executive Brad Siebert said over 400 orchards covering 900 hectares in the Bay of Plenty were affected. "Growers are taking immediate action to work with their supply chain partners, assessing the quantum of fruit loss and determining harvest strategy and timing for remaining fruit on the trees," he said.
The early season 2025-26 crop estimate was just over 6 million trays, with 60% for export and 40% for the local market. This was already about 1 million trays down from previous seasons. Siebert said the national crop volume still needs to be fully quantified after the storm. "As we start to pack fruit following the event, we will likely see an increased percentage of fruit downgraded away from export due to superficial wind damage."
NZ Food Network chief executive Gavin Findlay said 85 bins of fruit had been collected from four orchards around Katikati. The fruit was distributed with the help of Team Global Express to charities including Good Neighbour and Feeding Rotorua.
Source: SunLive