Hectre Begins Avocado Image Collection

Image collection for avocados has now begun!

This marks the first stage of the build for the Spectre for Avocados model.

With the Spectre for Pears model well underway, it’s not too big a leap for Spectre to start crunching the numbers on avocados, after all, avocados are also known as the “Alligator Pear”. Pear makes sense due to it’s pear shape contour. But alligator? Turns out the name “alligator pear” originated from the rough skin similar to the hide of the swampy alligator beast.

Massive growth across the past ten years has seen the world avocado market increase in size by almost four times. As of 2019, more than 7 million metric tons of avocados were being produced globally each year. That’s a whole lot of yumminess and a whole lot of growers and packers that could be supported with Spectre data!

Hectre customer, Costa, Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, has been busy snapping photos of bins of beautiful avocados on Spectre and sending them our way. This type of customer collaboration is always fantastic and something we value greatly.

The next step in our Spectre for Avocados project, will be reviewing measurement data and running grader comparisons as we build and tune the model.

For now though, enjoy these fun facts and amaze your workmates with your outstanding avocado knowledge!

According to research, the first commercially produced avocados were the Fuerte, meaning “strong” in Spanish, because of their ability to survive freezes!
Half an average-sized avocado has 4.6 grams of fiber — the most of any fruit!
The famous Florida botanist David Fairchild called the avocado “the veritable fruit of paradise.” Although botanically the avocado is a fruit, it distinguishes itself from other fruits in regard to its very low sugar content and acidity, and its high percentage of oil and protein.
An avocado has more potassium than a banana. Honestly! Avocados have a whopping 975 milligrams of potassium, whereas a banana typically has 544 milligrams.
Avocados were once a luxury food, reserved for the tables of royalty. History notes them as being first used as tributes to royalty in Mesoamerica some 7,000 years ago.
Want to speed up the avocado ripening process? Place your avocados in a paper bag with a kiwifruit or apple (or both). Apples, kiwifruit and avocados all produce ethylene. Ethylene is a natural plant hormone that triggers the ripening process. Shortcut to yum!

Here’s some inspiration for your next avo experience! (We’re not sure about that shake though…)