The Avolution calls on industry to apply the same rigour to destination performance as it does to market access
Fresh produce marketing company The Avolution is calling on the industry to apply equal discipline to destination performance – what export markets actually pay per kilogram – as it has applied to building market access.
It acknowledged that the Australian avocado industry has achieved something “genuinely significant”: year-round export capability across multiple international markets. “It has taken years of regulatory work, relationship building, and commercial investment to get there, and the industry deserves to acknowledge it,” it said. “But a harder conversation is now overdue.”
According to The Avolution, the data is unambiguous. In 2023, Australian avocado exports increased by 55 per cent year-on-year. Average FOB export prices fell 9 per cent to AU$4.59/kg. The following year, export volumes were broadly flat, and average prices recovered 13 per cent to AU$5.18/kg.
“More volume did not produce better returns. Restraint did,” it claimed, adding that destination-level data reinforces the point. It pointed out that in 2024/25, the spread between the highest and lowest-returning export markets for Australian avocados exceeded 85 per cent on a per-kilogram basis. Same fruit. Same season. Vastly different commercial outcomes depending on where the container was headed.
Antony Allen, CEO of The Avolution, commented: “The industry has done exceptional work building access over the past decade. The next phase of maturity is measuring success by what those markets return – not just how many weeks of the year we can supply them, or how many destinations appear on the list”.
The Avolution points to intensifying global competition as a key reason why this conversation is becoming urgent. Mexican avocado exports are forecast to surpass 1.5mn tonnes in 2026. Colombia is on track to become the world’s third-largest exporter. Peru is approaching 650,000 tonnes. Rabobank has explicitly flagged price pressure at levels not seen since 2020 as a direct consequence of volume growth outpacing demand creation.
Against that backdrop, Australian exporters who compete on programme reliability, quality consistency and destination performance – rather than scale alone – are better positioned to protect long-term returns, The Avolution claimed.
“Market access tells you where you’re selling. Destination performance tells you whether it’s working. The industry needs to be measuring both,” Allen concluded.
