It's an 'avolanche'! NSW avocado farm hits the market with price tag of $6.5 million

Avocado farmer and real estate agent Kevin Debreceny agrees, especially as he’s just put his sweeping 51.4-hectare avocado farm in the NSW Port Macquarie hinterland up for sale, with a price guide of $6.15 million to $6.5 million.

“It’s been joyous to be involved in the avocado industry and I think it’s probably the best-organised horticultural industry in Australia,” he said. “But I’ll be 70 next year and I want to retire.

“While it’s a sad decision to make and it’s been fantastic, it’s time to move on and take things a bit easier. A lot of farmers die with their boots on in the paddock and I don’t want that.”

It was probably a tougher move to make than for many others in a similar position. The Comboyne land on which Cherrywood sits has been in Debreceny’s family for 118 years, since his great-grandfather selected the plot from the government in 1904.

Back then, of course, avocados were barely known. Although the first avocado seeds were planted in Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens in 1840, the fruit was still very much a curiosity, and Debreceny’s ancestors were happy farming beef cattle and growing potatoes.

But after Debreceny bought the farm from his parents in 1984, he started rethinking the business. With the rise in the popularity of avocados through their championing by the wellness industry and then restaurateur Bill Granger putting them on his menus, in 2000 Debreceny converted his farm to avocado production. He hasn’t looked back since.

His farm, Comboyne Avocados, now has 5150 avocado trees and produces between 280 and 400 tonnes of the fruit every year. Two full-time workers manage the care of the crop and the picking.

There’s an established packing and distribution process in place with Costa Group, which looks after marketing, supply and both national and export sales. The business is also in possession of full plant and equipment and has a 120-megalitre water licence, as well as a long frontage to a creek.

Also on the property is a four-bedroom, two-bathroom brick home that was architect-designed in 2004, with nearly 540 square metres of living space, high ceilings, a fireplace, an 18-metre lap pool and a sunny deck overlooking the countryside.

In addition, there’s a small pinot noir micro-vineyard for the owners’ personal use. The winemaker is Debreceny’s son-in-law Alex Cassegrain of Cassegrain Wines, who was recently awarded the 2021 Australian Society of Viticulture & Oenology’s Winemaker of the Year accolade.

“I will miss it as I grew up here and have been in every gully on this property and know every blade of grass,” Debreceny said. “But I’m not going far away, so I’ll be around if the buyer needs any help or advice. I could imagine it will really appeal to someone looking for a house and lifestyle combined.”

The avocado industry today is growing fast, with Avocados Australia predicting that, in the long term, Australia’s production will continue to rise to about 170,000 tonnes by 2026, with Japan becoming a growing market.

The recommended serving size for avocado has also just been increased to 75 grams – or half a medium avocado – while a 2022 Avocado Health and Nutrition report, published by Hort Innovation, found that people who regularly eat avocados have a lower body mass index, a smaller waist and less weight gain over time.

They’re never without some controversy, though. Melbourne property tycoon Tim Gurner sparked outrage when he said that millennials could afford to buy houses if they stopped buying avocado toast for breakfast.

But the future, Debreceny believes, is definitely going to be green. “Avocados have been the flavour of the month for many years now and everyone leaves eating them and talking about them,” he said. “There’s been enormous growth since I first got involved and there’s still a lot of focus on the health benefits.