We are seeing thousands of dollars of fruit stolen in a single hit and people’s livelihoods are getting ruined … it is not like just stealing a couple of mandarins off your neighbours tree, we take it very seriously.”Last year, police reported most of the stolen fruit cropping up in pop-up roadside stalls, and small shops. Some thieves are using an intermediary to sell the stolen fruit, said Brown, a criminal partner who “may look more respectable” to front up and pose as a legitimate orchard owner. The only avocados available in New Zealand are grown in the country, and the season runs from August to March. The domestic and global demand for avocados has helped fuel growth in the New Zealand industry, which has swollen from NZ$70m in 2013 to NZ$198m in 2017. New Zealand exports avocado to ten countries, and it has become the country’s third largest fresh fruit export.

Source: The Guardian August 22, 2017 06:08 UTC