A West Australian avocado grower has spent eight years developing a new supply chain system it says assures the fruit is delivered to retailers free from bruises.
Delroy Orchards is launching a premium Haas avocado – branded the Delcado – next month that it says was inspired by consumer demand for improved avocado quality. The company fine-tuned each part of their avocados’ journey through growing, quality checks, storage, ripening and the supply chain.
“We’ve put a lot of energy into controlling the quality of our Delcados,” said Robbie Delroy, Delroy Orchards business development manager and son of orchard founders Russell and Jenny. “This starts on the tree where we test the fruit for its oil content to make sure it has a rich flavour before it’s picked.”
Delroys are grown in Pemberton, east of Western Australia’s Margaret River, one of the few Australian orchards where the fruit is in season from October through February, a time when most avocados on local shelves come from New Zealand and Chile.
Delroy says the longer an avocado takes to get to store, the more time it has to deteriorate, so they spotted an opportunity to improve quality through supply chain efficiency and invested heavily in research and development in partnership with Australian and international universities to improve best practice technology in both production and supply chain.
“We are using near infrared technology, in addition to our blemish technology, to see inside the avocado to better detect any internal damage. The technology is already used by apple growers looking for bruises in their fruit, while it is early days for avocados, we’re excited about what it could mean for quality control and the avocado category in general,” said Delroy.
“Another key investment has been making our supply chain as efficient and controlled as possible, so we can monitor and temperature control every step of the Delcados journey from orchard to store.
“Our Delcados will arrive at least two times faster to stores than imported avocados, meaning a Delcado you buy at the supermarket is potentially 12-15 days fresher,” he said.
The Delroys are so confident a Delcado is better quality than other avocados, they have announced a money-back guarantee for the fruit.
The Delcados will be available at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, Harris Farm Markets and independent fresh-produce retailers in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
