Imagine a future in which you could hold an avocado next to a machine that will tell you whether it’s ripe or not.
Well, the future is now thanks to a European manufacturer — but it’s an absurdist future as far as many Mexicans are concerned.
Based on their reactions on social media, people from the Yucatán Peninsula to Tijuana are firmly of the belief that if you need technology to determine if that wonderful fruit you are holding is para hoy (for today), para mañana (for tomorrow) or muy verde (way too unripe), you aren’t fit to be a Mexican.
“Choosing avocados is a Latin American gift,” wrote one TikTok user who believes that just by touching an avocado, one should intrinsically know if it’s ready to eat or not.
“That’s not enough,” added another. “In Mexico, we have machines that ripen them in one day. It’s called a newspaper!”
(Indeed, wrapping an unripe avocado with newspaper, or placing it in a brown paper bag, traps ethylene gas that accelerates its ripening; you can even speed things up by adding in other ethylene-producing fruits like bananas or apples.)
@emilio.pego Es una buena idea? 😅🥑 #emiliopego #mexico #latinos #alemania #europa ♬ sonido original – Emiliopego
As for the innovative machine, it has been available for nearly a year at a supermarket in Bavaria, Edeka Frischecenter Wagner, that is known for having an award-winning produce section of 650 varieties.
Developed by OneThird, an AI-powered food tech company based in the Netherlands, the machine is also available at retailers in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Norway in addition to Germany and the Netherlands.
OneThird has developed a near-infrared technology that predicts the ripeness and, more importantly, the shelf life for fresh produce such as mangos, melons, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes and, of course, avocados. The technology — which OneThird hopes will reduce food waste by up to 25% — is being implemented in a handful of European countries.
“Many customers are familiar with the dilemma when buying avocados in the supermarket,” the German newspaper L.Z. Direkt wrote last year. “They are often either too hard or too soft, which makes it difficult to determine the ideal degree of ripeness.”
Not anymore. To determine if an avocado is ripe without cutting into it, the fruit is simply held up to a sensor, and in a matter of seconds, the machine indicates its state of ripeness.
Though the machine debuted in stores in 2023, the news of its existence went viral last week thanks to a post by Mexican TikTok user Emilio Pego, who shared parts of a video posted by the German supermarket, showing off the scanner.
Though Pego was initially skeptical, he noticed that Germans in the comments found the machine useful.
“This is a gift that only us Mexicans have,” one commenter wrote.
“Yes, you can probably guess blindly which is the best avocado,” the supermarket responded in Spanish. “But we German potatoes need the scanner.”
The machine could even facilitate the experience of buying avocados, increasing the fruit’s global popularity and creating even more demand for Mexico’s top agricultural export.
According to Fresh Fruit Portal, Mexico exported US $3.1 billion of avocados from January to October 2024, placing the green gold ahead of tomatoes, peppers and legumes.
But would a true Mexican ever use a machine to scan for its ripeness?
Not as long as a worker at your favorite fruit and vegetable stall can sell you an avocado based on whether you want to eat it today or tomorrow. Said one user on social media: “Jejeje. I love it because they always get it right.”
