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How did avocados get so incredibly expensive?
Old 09-21-2017, 11:01 AM   #1
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How did avocados get so incredibly expensive?

I had an uncle in Santa Barbara who had an avocado tree in his back yard. No way could they ever eat all of them, or give them all away to family.

I have always enjoyed avocados, but suddenly they seem to have doubled in price. What gives?

Ha
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Old 09-21-2017, 11:17 AM   #2
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I have seen several articles about the price increase. I am not sure why. Thankfully, we are still able to get a bag of 5 or 6 at Costco for about $6. We eat them most days.

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Old 09-21-2017, 11:19 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
I had an uncle in Santa Barbara who had an avocado tree in his back yard. No way could they ever eat all of them, or give them all away to family.

I have always enjoyed avocados, but suddenly they seem to have doubled in price. What gives?

Ha
Demand increased, production decreased..

Price of avocado is increasing while yield stays low

omni
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Old 09-21-2017, 11:21 AM   #4
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It's because Australian and American millennials have made avocado toast a meme - Millionaire to millennials: Lay off the avocado toast if you want a house - May. 15, 2017


I love avocados, but they have definitely doubled in price, even at Costco. Those 5 for $6 bags used to cost $3 a year or so ago. When I get back to FL this fall I am putting in an avocado tree. I was debating between that and an orange tree, but I eat more avocados than oranges.
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Old 09-21-2017, 11:32 AM   #5
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Apparently the hot dry weather had done in avocado trees all over the west coast and Mexico.

Try this instead:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edi...plant-care.htm

Or hire these guys to sue the avocado growers for some reason:

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Old 09-21-2017, 11:52 AM   #6
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Viral sheep. Get used to it. Some article goes viral, or some iPhone app says "Do this", and the next thing you know the sheep are going crazy over it.

Sometimes it is a good thing, like when your neighborhood gets on some phone app radar saying it is a good place. Boom. 10% price rise overnight.
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Old 09-21-2017, 12:27 PM   #7
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Hass Avocados are a buck each, all day long here at all the fruit stands. Im not an avocado expert so these might be small scrawny ones, just I saw them this morning next to my Italian frying peppers I bought. I remember a story when the "Mob" controlled the price of Artichokes. Lotsa money in some of these green fruits and veggies.
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Old 09-21-2017, 01:01 PM   #8
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At the big grocery store near me, small Hass avocados are about $1.25 each. I eat a couple of these each week, and one is the perfect size for an avocado-centric lunch. Even if they were half that price, I'd only be saving about $60/year. I've never thought they seemed particularly expensive.
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Old 09-21-2017, 01:26 PM   #9
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Haas avocados have been $1 each for about as long as I can remember for at least the last decade, in any state I've been in, and I have one every day. The last few weeks they've consistently been $1.49, unless you get a bag of 4-6, then they're around $1.25.

I cannot wait to have a house so I can grow my own avocado tree. If they'll even grow here.
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Old 09-21-2017, 01:47 PM   #10
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Haas avocados have been $1 each for about as long as I can remember for at least the last decade, in any state I've been in, and I have one every day. The last few weeks they've consistently been $1.49, unless you get a bag of 4-6, then they're around $1.25.

I cannot wait to have a house so I can grow my own avocado tree. If they'll even grow here.
I have often been able to buy them for 49 cents to 69 cents each individually a year ago,
NOW they are $1.25 or more, so I don't buy them.

I basically make guacamole, so instead I buy it ready made $2.99 for 16 oz at Aldi.
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Old 09-21-2017, 01:48 PM   #11
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You made me look at my receipt. Just bought one at the grocery store, decent size, $1.99.
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Old 09-21-2017, 03:43 PM   #12
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The grocery business is one of the most competitive in the world, and constantly changing.

I was just reading a piece on Aldi's expansion and it contained the tidbit that Aldi has owned Trader Joe's since 1979. I had no idea.
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Old 09-21-2017, 03:46 PM   #13
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I buy them when I want to and never even consider the price, don't even look at it. Too busy squeezing to get just the right firmness.
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Old 09-21-2017, 03:54 PM   #14
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I had a roast chicken sandwich at lunch, that had a lot of avocado in it, probably half of a big one or all of a smaller avocado. It was delicious!

The sandwich cost the same as it always has. Sounds like the price is going to start going up.
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Old 09-21-2017, 04:16 PM   #15
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Costco bundles of avocados still $6, but they are from Peru right now which aren't nearly as good as the ones from Mexico.
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Old 09-21-2017, 04:51 PM   #16
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Just had an avocado in a chicken sandwich. Yum.

Price for avocado (bought at grocery store) was about $1.49. A lot healthier than a giant sized Big Gulp .
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Old 09-21-2017, 05:26 PM   #17
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Same here, up until a couple months ago I paid $.50/each for a small Hass, now it's close to a buck. I use to put a whole one in my morning smoothie, now I cut them in half.
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Old 09-21-2017, 05:39 PM   #18
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We've noticed a real decline in the quality of the avocados over the past year. The number that seem fine but are rotten in the center has risen along with the price, and we're more bothered with the waste.

Ever increasing demand is straining agricultural production.
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Old 09-21-2017, 06:02 PM   #19
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"The average American eats 7 pounds of guacamole a year, up from 1.1 pounds in 1989"

"A standard box of 48 avocados went for $83.75 this week, the ARA reports. That's up from $37.25 in early January."

Unusually hot weather has caused harvest problems, and of course it's a very popular food now.

Avocado prices have soared 125% this year - Sep. 9, 2017
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Old 09-21-2017, 07:03 PM   #20
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Quote:
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I had an uncle in Santa Barbara who had an avocado tree in his back yard. No way could they ever eat all of them, or give them all away to family.

I have always enjoyed avocados, but suddenly they seem to have doubled in price. What gives?

Ha
The millennial generation has an affinity for avocado toast (just google it) generating excess demand.
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