Are we headed for the 500 baht avocado? Adios to green bliss ...

[Jingthing]

If you love avocados as I do, you've noticed something lately.

Either no avocados for sale or the prices started to seriously creep up.

Like 98 baht for a small imported avocado.

This might be the start of things getting much worse.

This article suggests the U.S. might be headed towards 200 baht avocados.

Well, the U.S. is located in a major growing zone and there is also access to Mexican and Chilean product.

Thailand doesn't grow many high quality avocados and the good ones are usually imported from Australia or New Zealand.

Although sometimes you see Californian and Mexican ones here as well.

Now if they become standard 200 baht in the U.S. given the global demand for them and that in Thailand we are dealing with imports, transport, duties, etc. that's why I came up with the 500 baht point. Maybe that's an exagerration and maybe it isn't, but if they're 200 baht in the U.S. they'll be more here, for sure.

Are you willing to pay even 200 to 500 baht for one avocado as a regular thing?

Have You Eaten Your Last Avocado?.
The name avocado comes from the Aztec word ahuacatl, which means “testicle,” so named because avocados typically grow in pairs and hang heavy on the tree.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/04/23/avocado_shortage_is_the_end_of_avocados_nigh.html

Edited May 24, 2015 by Jingthing

[AyG]

Perhaps that sort of price would encourage Thai farmers to grow them commercially. Plenty of people have a tree in the garden, so they do grow here.

And no, I wouldn't pay 200 Baht for one. The quality of the imported avocados is highly variable, and too often they rot before they ripen.

[Jingthing]

Unfortunately I have made cados a part of my regular diet ... like a serving of 1/2 of one two or three times a week. They are up there with my favorite food but I don't think I am trying to be trendy ... I have loved them for decades. I say unfortunately because now the way things are going, I will miss them. I balk even at 100 baht cados and yes many of them turn out to never ripen properly (poor handling in the Thai processes for them), so effectively the real cost might average out as double of that already!

I've had this experience before in Thailand. To me good wine is such a poor value here that I basically (and painfully) gave up wine.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Jingthing

[T_Dog]

Lots of avocado grown and sold north of Chiang Mai with road side stands on the road to Pai when the season is in. Several varieties and you have to know how to pick the good ones. The wife makes the best guacomole on the planet every year. Guess these local ones don't make it too far south from here. The US has been hit with drought and insect problems so avocado from there will be expensive.

[chiang mai]

+1 re. the availability/cost here.

[Jingthing]

That's a short season and localized.

Yes during the season the northern cados are sold around Thailand in some grocery stores.

I'm talking about getting them all year.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Jingthing

[stoli]

Living the majority of my life in California, I always grew my own avocado's. The pick would start in January or February. After that, prices always increased, as the avocado's were stored to last a little longer, or they were imported from countries that have a different season. Importing costs money. Hence, the cost goes up after February. You will always find a better price in February, because shelf life is not that long. 500 baht is like looking for the dollar to go to 50 against the baht. Don't expect that to happen soon. Why import a product that won't sell?

Edited May 25, 2015 by stoli

[Jingthing]

I don't understand how grocery stores work with rotten produce in Thailand.

I've seen entire trays of rotten cados here, so far gone not even the most clueless shopper would ever buy them even for 5 baht.

So that's a total loss for the store, right?

Of course all produce rots, but cados are expensive and seem to have a higher rot before sales ratio than other stuff.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Jingthing

[Torrens54]

Perhaps that sort of price would encourage Thai farmers to grow them commercially. Plenty of people have a tree in the garden, so they do grow here.

And no, I wouldn't pay 200 Baht for one. The quality of the imported avocados is highly variable, and too often they rot before they ripen.

Maybe "No Luck, Yingluck" could talk the General into a variation on her Rice Incentive Scheme, and offer to pay the Avocado producers double or nothing and then toss a coin?

At least the farmers might have Half a chance of getting their money.

[sirineou]

Organic Avocados at Shop Right in NYC

http://plan.shoprite.com/Circular/ShopRite-of-Monroe/D4F9622/Weekly/1/9

$1.66 each or 55 bht

I have seen them elsewhere for $1.00 Each but they did not have an online flier so that I can post proof.

[LindaLovelace]

Perhaps that sort of price would encourage Thai farmers to grow them commercially. Plenty of people have a tree in the garden, so they do grow here.

And no, I wouldn't pay 200 Baht for one. The quality of the imported avocados is highly variable, and too often they rot before they ripen.

"and too often they rot before they ripen." I love avocados and was buying a lot of them, but have grown tired of tossing out 50% of them, which doubles the price of the ones I get to eat. They simply pick them too green. If picked too green they will NOT ripen; they will rot.

That "testicle" business sounds like some kind of gay legend.

[LindaLovelace]

I don't understand how grocery stores work with rotten produce in Thailand.

I've seen entire trays of rotten cados here, so far gone not even the most clueless shopper would ever buy them even for 5 baht.

So that's a total loss for the store, right?

Of course all produce rots, but cados are expensive and seem to have a higher rot before sales ratio than other stuff.

How about the freezer burned brussels sprouts in the freezers that stay month after month with no takers? Or one of my favorites: Out local Makro has this freezer case section with frozen whole salmon tossed in, tumbled like fiddle sticks. The one-time shrink wrap is broken and the fish is so freezer burned that when you pick one up it weighs only half what it should. Those fish have been in there like that for the five years I have shopped there. Nothing added; nothing taken.

[Sandy Freckle]

I'm guessing avo's must ripen or go off much quicker here in the tropics. Back in S/W Oz it's almost the perfect producers fruit. It generally keeps on the tree a long time…, mostly ripens after picking…, birds n insects don't really impact on them. Wind and lack of food(gross feeder) and water can hurt them though.
So, I would have thought at those prices here…, after a 2, 3 or 4 year grow in period, there will be a great crop for some enterprising farmer who can plant out a decent sized area. Careful post harvest handling is an imperative though.

[bubba]

I honestly do not understand why supermarkets like Villa sell avocados imported from far away at such an exorbitant price. I was at the market in Mae Hong Son last year and bought some at 50 baht/kg. They were a couple of days from ripe and actually very nice for making guacamole. In season, there are tonnes of avocados for sale at the markets up in the north. So why aren't these marketed in Bangkok?

I think one problem is that many Thais don't really know what to do with avocados. Asking around, it seems the only way the locals up there knew how to prepare and eat them was to split them open, remove the pit, shovel some sugar into the hole, then eat it with a spoon.

[AlphMichaels]

I was finding really good ones in December/January at Villa and even Tesco. By February, the ones bought would "ripen" (turn black) quickly and remain hard as rocks after. Price for ones from north were reasonable at end of year. By February, most were from New Zealand (80-90THB each) and like the ones mentioned above. I gave up.

[DonaldBattles]

There are over 500 different varieties of avocados. Thailand has several varieties that I find to be very tasty and good for me. In season prices average about 40 Baht per kg. I have a bout 20 trees in my compound that I started from seeds.

A good friend owns a large orchard in New Zealand. He receives from3-5 Baht per kg when he can sell them.

If you look at the meat available after you discard the pealing and seed from the small Haas from Queensland Australia you are paying a fortune at about 15-1600 Baht per kg for the meat. A real rip off. Avocados have a life of about 6 weeks after they are picked from the trees.

There is a lot of myth associated with the quality and taste of the USA Haas. As they do not grow other types in most of California people do not know that there are 499 different varieties in the world.

A major use for the avocado now is for oil for food processing and for cosmetics. These relative new and very expensive products drive the cost up.

As someone mentioned there are a lot of avocados in the Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai along with Burma at reasonable prices. Look for them during the season and you will find them.

[AyG]

I honestly do not understand why supermarkets like Villa sell avocados imported from far away at such an exorbitant price.

It's all about profit. There's much more profit in an imported avocado than a local one.

It was the same with cheese. There was a local brand producing pretty good brie and camembert, but far cheaper than the imported stuff. It disappeared from the shelves after a couple of months.

Similarly, Villa used to stock locally produced jars of salsa. Now only the imported (and exorbitantly priced) ones are on sale.

[OOLEEBER]

I too love avocados but I can wait until they are in season and normally pick them up for about 6 per 100 baht at the hill tribe markets on the way for a visa run to mae sot. My friends also get me some on their visa runs. As much as I love them I would never pay for imported ones. I'd rather use that money to treat my kids to something and do without avo's for a while.

[kinmaew]

I saw Arj Barker and he said "I am doing so well, when I order a sandwich I don't even ask how much extra it costs to put on avocado, just do it!!" I guess you had to be there. I may have missed in above threads but when I was last in Burma 10 years ago they seemed to have an abundance of avocados and cheap too, may still be the case. Here in AUS I can get 3 for 5 bucks at the market no worries mate.

[ezzra]

Why the local farmers doesn't grow the Hass cultivar rather than wasting time on that inferior

margarine taste ones it's beyond me... they copy everything here, might as well copy the Hass

brand cados...

[fredge45]

Been growing my own and expanding the number of trees in my orchard out of Chiang Mai as well. Advertised seedlings in a Facebook page and sold some but the response wasn't astoudning. Mix of Thai and westerners buying. Pics are of seedlings and fruit on the "mother" tree...

[cumgranosalum]

Perhaps that sort of price would encourage Thai farmers to grow them commercially. Plenty of people have a tree in the garden, so they do grow here.

And no, I wouldn't pay 200 Baht for one. The quality of the imported avocados is highly variable, and too often they rot before they ripen.

I would think that climate and pests would be the determining factors in that?

They do grow a very large, course Avacado in Thailand, it isn't very tasty though.

[Fallangpakwan]

I bought 10 avos at Khao Yai last week for 100baht they were the only ones available at the time and not such good quality, guess it's wrong time of year as they usually have loads there and quite good;but the best variety except for Chiangmai/Chiangrai region is Tak. The Musers always have a good variety at their market on the Tak to Mae-Sot road and about 2 years back Musers also set up a market on the main highway about 30km south of Tak that usually has them too.

[shaurene]

I am from New Zealand and I love my Cardo's. When I go back I always buy 4-5 real hard green large ones Hass around NZ$2 - 50baht I wrap them in tin foil and they travel good. My favourite is toast with Vegimite on and spread the Advo over it, lovely.

The thing is APEC is in full swing now (Asia Pacific Econ Forum) Thailand, New Zealaand & Aussie are members and 2015 is the year that all the 23 country's abolish 90% of import duties from each other so really their should be no or very low duties on them. Perhaps it is customs and the importers still making a filling on them.

[ggberardi]

There are super tasty avocado in north of Thailand all year around and the price vary from 20 to 40 baht per kilo. You just need to learn where to go and buy them. No comparison with the imported product that travels for days and it's preserved with chemicals.
As all the fruit and veggies quality and quantity depends on location and season.

[AyG]

My favourite is toast with Vegimite on and spread the Advo over it, lovely.

[Fallangpakwan]

I am from New Zealand and I love my Cardo's. When I go back I always buy 4-5 real hard green large ones Hass around NZ$2 - 50baht I wrap them in tin foil and they travel good. My favourite is toast with Vegimite on and spread the Advo over it, lovely.

The thing is APEC is in full swing now (Asia Pacific Econ Forum) Thailand, New Zealaand & Aussie are members and 2015 is the year that all the 23 country's abolish 90% of import duties from each other so really their should be no or very low duties on them. Perhaps it is customs and the importers still making a filling on them.

Any real Kiwi would be spreading marmite not that oz rubbish

[LALes]

It was the same thing when I lived in Hawaii. Everyone said, "why don't you eat the local ones?" Well, the local ones were crap, mister. Never found a varietal that matched the Haas quality. 30 years on and I'll never forget the comment made by a hotshot chef from Mai Maison in Hollywood who came over to work with us. He said, "The only thing Hawaiian avocados are good for is throwing at windows". I've never had nor seen any avos from Chiang Mai so I can't comment on the quality of those but I'd rather stick with an imported Haas. However, 98 baht in the Jomtien super market yesterday is out of my league. Goodbye guac.

[Fallangpakwan]

Often Makro in Pattaya North and probably the other one South, has Thai avos, not too expensive, but they seem to always keep them real cold and half go rotten rather than ripening.

[Sandy Freckle]

My favourite is toast with Vegimite on and spread the Advo over it, lovely.

Vegimite is now owned by yanks…., whatever…, sometimes I'll thinly spread Promite(although also loaded with salt) on my wholemeal toast first then spread the Avo…, I don't mind that for a change.