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The great avocado debate

Which is better? Hass or Shepard?
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If there’s one thing we truly love in Australia, it’s avocados. Preferably smashed and served on toast. However, as the Hass avocado season comes to an end, a heated debate has emerged on social media: Hass versus Shepard.

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Mamamia made waves on Tuesday when they posted a meme on Facebook suggesting that Hass avocados are far superior to Shepard. “Shepard Avocados = Badacado Season,” they howled.   

 A heated argument developed in the 5.7K comments, where some users responded with quips like  “Shepard is the poor man’s Hass,” and “I say #boycottshepard. They’re bloody awful!”

 So what is it about the much-maligned Shepard avocados that people find so objectionable?

According to #TeamHass, the smooth-skinned Shepard avocados are firmer and have a less creamy texture.

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They will also argue that unlike Hass avocados which turn purple-black as they ripen, it’s difficult to tell when a Shepard is ripe, resulting in disrupted meal plans and wasted fruit.

“I was so happy to discover two in my crisper and eagerly cut into it to see pristine flesh, only to eat it and it tasted like broken dreams and disappointment,” one Facebook user lamented.

Cut avocado
Are you #TeamHass or #TeamShepard (Credit: Getty) (Credit: Getty)

While many people agreed with this sentiment and shared the meme widely, #TeamShepard had other ideas.

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“You have it so wrong!” one person argued. “Shepard are far superior! They don’t over ripen quickly, they don’t go brown, they don’t get the string like texture, you can get them out of the skin better, they have a great colour and taste great.”

“The superior buttery green Shepards are delectable,” another agreed. “So much nicer than Hass with its weird stringy bits, random hard pellets, and sometimes grey flesh.”

“I must also confess, these are now my favourite. They stay green and don’t ripen too quickly, and I even like their ‘al dente’ texture in my salads,” another commenter mused.

So which team are you? Hass or Shepard? And what does Australia’s authority on avocados have to say about the two? Or should we be asking a more important question: should you add feta to your smashed avo?

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