A wasted avocado has already made its full climate footprint

The avocado has gained a reputation asan environmental villain. Some of that criticism is fair. But the debate oftenoverlooks what happens to the fruit after it has been bought.

Where does the avocado’sfootprint come from?

A major review of the climate impact of food, published inthe journal Science in 2018, shows that one kilo of avocado generates around2.5 kilos of carbon dioxide equivalents. That is more than bananas and apples,but far less than chicken or beef, for example.

Many people assume the long journey is what weighsheaviest. It isn’t.Avocados are usually shipped by sea, and shipping accounts for roughly 0.2kilos of the 2.5. Most of the footprint is created during cultivation. That isalso where a lot of water is used. Estimates vary depending on the method, butmost land between 1,000 and 2,000 litres per kilo of fruit.

The waste that rarelyshows

In 2022, we at Swedlog asked consumers about their avocadohabits. Respondents said they throw away just over a third of the avocados theybuy. 91 percent had never contacted the store about it. In other words,household waste rarely shows up in retailers’ ownfigures.

Do the math and the implications become clear. For everykilo of avocado bought, roughly 0.8 kilos of carbon dioxide equivalents andbetween 330 and 670 litres of water are lost without anyone eating the fruit.By the time the avocado ends up in the bin, the growing, the watering and theshipping have already happened. None of it can be undone.

The figures apply to those who responded to our survey andshould be seen as an indication rather than an exact measure. But they showthat what happens in the fridge is connected to what happens on the farm.

Ripeness makes thedifference

An avocado that is rock hard when bought and overripe twodays later is hard to plan around, both at home and in store. Traditionalripening often causes exactly that unevenness.

That is why we ripen avocados using Softripe. Thetechnology controls oxygen, temperature, carbon dioxide and ethylene based onwhere the fruit comes from, so that it ripens evenly from the inside out.According to our own results, the fruit lasts more than twice as long astraditionally ripened avocados.

The idea is simple. The longer the fruit lasts, thegreater the chance it gets eaten before it goes bad.

What does this meanfor retailers?

For stores, more even ripening can mean fewer fruits thatneed to be marked down or thrown away, and customers who feel confident buyingagain. In the same survey, 96 percent said they would buy avocados more oftenif the quality were better and the fruit lasted longer.

The avocado’sfootprint isn’t goingaway. But the footprint that already exists only serves a purpose if the fruitactually gets eaten.

Sources:

- Poore, J. & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392). doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216

- Down To Earth: Whatactually makes avocados bad for the environment

- Swedlog consumer survey, 2022

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