NZ's avocado underbelly: Why thieves are targeting Kiwi growers

Friday, 21 June 2019

Avocados are a popular summer-time snack for many Kiwis.

But when supplies dwindle, their value can quickly soar - in some cases to more than $10 each.

Behind the humble avocado is an alluring black market where criminals are robbing hardworking growers to make a quick buck.

Neville Cooper's avocado orchard has been burgled at least eight times in the past four years. Two of those robberies were just this month.

**READ MORE:

* Avocados early to hit the $5 mark

* Police seek the owners of stolen avocados

* Soaring prices force Auckland cafe to stop selling avocado dishes

* 'Professional avocado thief' caught in the act: Bay of Plenty orchard worker

* Terrifying moments avocado thief rammed police car before setting off on crime spree**

'THEY'RE SCUMBAGS'

At the start of June, Cooper says 'probably about 1000' avocados were stolen. Then last week thieves targeted him again and 'probably got away with a couple of hundred'.

Copper has run the orchard in Whakamarama for almost two decades.

He was robbed twice in 2017, four times in 2018 and already twice this year - and these are just the instances he knows about. With more than 300 mature avocado trees, it's hard to keep track of all of the fruit.

'They're just scumbags really,' Cooper says. 

In the past, thieves have cut through fences, wire netting and even shorted electric fence wires. The property has security cameras, but even they haven't deterred the thieves - some have even committed daylight robbery.

On that occasion, Cooper says it looked like robbers had used garden rakes to remove the fruit, as the ground was littered with baby avocados. 'I picked up 500 fruit off the ground.'

Cooper's security cameras have captured partial pictures of robbers at night. Items of clothing left behind during their heists have even been DNA tested by police, but so far no one has been caught.

'I don't know how we're going to stop them,' Cooper says. 'They seem to know all the tricks of the trade.

'They can run in there and grab 200 fruit in 10 minutes, run out and they've made $300-$400.

'It's very easy, quick money for them, that's the problem.'

Despite the spate of thefts, Cooper says 'it doesn't actually put us out of pocket, but it is annoying'.

However, regular burglaries could hit some growers hard, he says. 'If people are relying on it, like a young couple, it would make it hard for them.

'These scumbags [are] ruining people's lives.'

NZ'S AVOCADO UNDERBELLY

Cooper is just one of the many growers to be targeted by thieves. Last year, Graeme Burgess had around $100,000 worth of avocados pinched from his farm in the Far North.

Burgess says avocados were pillaged from about 112 trees at the Kaikohe orchard, hitting the business hard. But no one was caught for the robbery.

'We only get one pay day a year,' he says. 'People get their pay every week or every month, we don't. We only get one pay day [crop] a year, and then the buggers come along and try and take that off us.'

A spate of thefts also took place the year before, affecting many North Island businesses, including avocado orchards in the Bay of Plenty.

Police provisional figures show there were about 210 reported thefts or burglaries of avocados in 2018, with the majority of thefts occurring in the Bay of Plenty, Northland and Eastern Districts.

A further breakdown shows there were around 130 thefts or burglaries reported in the six months to December 2018, compared with 110 for the same period the year prior.

So is there an avocado black market in New Zealand? 'There definitely is,' Cooper says.

Cooper believes the stolen fruit is being sold at roadside stalls and markets, and potentially even sushi shops and smaller supermarkets.

He says one of the annoying things about the recent thefts at his Whakamarama orchard was that the fruit was still 4-5 weeks away from being ripe. At that stage, the fruit is firm, watery and tasteless.

However, if the fruit is mushed up with a bit of seasoning and put in sushi, for example, then 'the public probably wouldn't even know' they're eating unripe avocado, Cooper says. 

But Michael Franks, the chief executive of produce company Seeka, says retailers such as supermarkets know where their produce is coming from, and there is 'nothing to substantiate' claims that stolen fruit is potentially being used at sushi shops.

He says stolen avocados are more likely to be sold on at roadside stalls or at some weekend markets, something Franks calls the 'grey market'.

Franks says avocado thefts are prevalent at this time of year, and orchards close to towns and roadsides are often among those targeted by thieves.

New Zealand Avocado chief executive Jen Scoular says historically there's been a rise in avocado theft from orchards throughout April and May, prior to the new-season avocado harvest.

STOLEN GOODS

Following the recent thefts in the Bay of Plenty, Senior Sergeant Alasdair Macmillan, who's the co-ordinator for community policing, told 1News that police had 'information that some local supermarkets, corner dairies may be in possession of what they think is legitimate fruit'.

'However, it has been supplied to them by either a middle person or the thieves themselves.'

In New Zealand, avocado thieves can be charged with burglary, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, Scoular says.

'Shop owners who knowingly purchase stolen avocados can be charged with receiving stolen property – which carries a maximum imprisonment of seven years.'

At Christmas time, a man was charged with theft after police found a bounty of avocados at an address in the Bay of Plenty.

In the past, police have also charged a number of people with stealing avocados and receiving property.

After appearing on the news at the start of the month, Cooper received a call from a man in Auckland saying he believed he may have accidently bought stolen avocados – possibly even Cooper's.

He had told Copper he'd bought them outside a house in Auckland.

Another person near Tauranga also rang Cooper to say there were children walking door-to-door selling potentially stolen avocados. 'He rang up and said 'I've probably bought some of your avocados'.'

'That's the problem, people don't realise that they're actually not ready to eat,' Cooper says.

Cooper doesn't believe the current fines thieves receive are deterring them. He'd like to see heftier fines for businesses, in particular, caught buying stolen fruit. 'I'd like to see people buying it hit harder. I think that's the only way we're going to stop it.'

Burgess agrees: 'They need a bigger fine to make them stop doing it … the bigger the fine the better, then they'll think twice.'

TELL-TALE SIGNS

Scoular says that all avocados harvested in New Zealand are clipped or cut from the tree, and a small stalk 'button' is left attached to the fruit. 

'If the avocado stalk looks very long, or if there is a hole where the stalk should be, it's possible the avocados have been stolen,' she says.

Other signs are if the avocados are smaller than usual and are quite firm. These factors, combined with them being sold on the roadside, outside houses and from car boots, are all signs that the fruit could be stolen.

'Consumers need to be aware that although it might seem like a good deal, stolen avocados are most likely immature and will never ripen,' Scoular says.

A RISE IN REPORTING

Macmillian told Stuff that police have seen a rise in reporting these types of thefts in recent months.

'Avocados are a target for thieves due to availability and price. We find that people are increasingly likely to report thefts of this nature, and suspicious activity, where in the past they might not have.'