Tesco launches UK’s first ever avocado spread

Avocado has become a favourite food among wellness bloggers and a must-have ingredient in healthy recipes.

So it’s perhaps not surprising that Tesco has jumped on the trend by using avocados as a substitute for butter and margarine for the first time in Britain.

Tesco said the new dairy-free avocado spread costs £1.20 for a 250g pack and will be available in 400 outlets across the UK from Tuesday.

It claims the product, based on ripe frozen avocados, contains less saturated fat, calories and salt when compared to butter. The spread contains 533 calories per 100g.

Tesco’s own-brand reduced fat spread, Butter Me Up, is much cheaper at 89p for 500g and has a typical value of 414 calories per 100g.

Tesco’s avocado spread, suitable for vegan and vegetarians, does appear to have more nutrients ingredients such as avocado oil, vitamin A and D, Omega 3 and less than 1 per cent of salt. However, it also contains rapeseed oil and palm oil.

Most of the fat content in avocados is considered to be “good fat” which can help reduce cholesterol levels, with the fruit also said to lower the risk of heart disease and strokes.

Britain’s appetite for avocados has been growing over the recent years.

High demand from health-conscious consumers has led Peru to triple its avocado exports since 2010, with exports to the UK up 58 per cent over the past year.

According to The Grocer, suppliers of avocados have sent sales in the UK are up by as much as 25 per cent this year. Meanwhile, demand for avocados at Tesco has grown by 40 per cent making it one of the UK’s fastest growing established fruit varieties.

Avocados have even inspired a hashtag, #avocadoobsession with accompanying Instagram photos depicting the latest recipes created by hipster followers of the avocado boom.

Pinterest recorded more than 500,000 avocado food ideas posted as “pins”, a visual bookmarks that helps people to find inspiration and save their ideas, in 2015.

The UK avocado market is now worth £150 million a year, more than the UK orange market, which is currently worth £126 million, according to the latest retail sales data by IRI, a market research company.

But our avocado obsession might have severe consequences, it takes 318l of water to produce 1lb of avocados. This means water is drawn away from more essential public uses and costs more for the farmers.

The amount of land used for avocado farming in Chile has increased eight-fold in 25 years and, as an article in Mother Jones magazine pointed out in October, the process is draining the groundwater and village wells.

In Mexico, the problem isn't so much water, but that most of the groves are within the state of Michoacan, which is largely controlled by the Caballeros Templarios cartel. Murder and extortion are so common in the industry that one security expert refers to them as “blood avocados”.