Avoca Beach Friendly Grocer

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Avoca Beach Friendly Grocer No self-checkouts and right near the beach. Pop in and say Hi!

Locally owned and proudly stocked—
Fresh local produce, local eggs, groceries, staples, beach-day snacks and those tempting $2 lolly bags (because some things should just never change)!

30/10/2026

🎃 Little ghosts and goblins at your door tomorrow… and not a lolly in sight? 👻😂

Don’t worry, Avoca. We’ve got your Halloween rescue mission sorted! 🍬

Whether you’re expecting two trick-or-treaters or the entire neighbourhood, we’ve made things a little easier this year!

Instead of pre-packed lolly bags, we’ve put together a scoop-and-weigh selection of individually wrapped treats. Just scoop what you need, weigh it up and you’re ready for the doorbell to start ringing!

We chose individually wrapped lollies because they’re practical for handing out to little trick-or-treaters, with the added bonus of being able to buy as much or as little as you need!

🍓 Meanwhile, there’s a changing of the guard happening at the fruit markets!

Queensland’s winter strawberry season is winding down as Victoria’s spring harvest gets underway, and we’re still getting our hands on some beautiful premium Western Australian fruit.

Different growing regions and varieties mean different flavours, textures and sweetness. It’s why two punnets of strawberries can look almost identical but offer completely different eating experiences!

🥭 And those gorgeous Katherine mangoes? They’re part of the Northern Territory’s early mango season, before Queensland’s harvest takes over as we head towards summer.

☀️ And if tomorrow turns into a beach day…

Here’s a little idea you might not have tried! Passionfruit is practically a ready-made fruit cup. Ask us to slice the top off and grab a spoon, and you’ve got a delicious little beach treat without any preparation at home!

We’ve filled the shop with beautiful fresh produce, flowers and plenty of those premium grapes that seem to disappear faster than we can restock them! 🍇

And remember, if something special catches your eye in our fresh updates, don’t leave it too long. Some varieties and growers only make a brief appearance before the season moves on!

Happy Halloween, Avoca! Have a wonderful weekend, enjoy the sunshine and we’ll see you down at the Friendly Grocer! ❤️

27/10/2026

🍍 We may have accidentally created a few pineapple addicts in Avoca… and we’ve got good news! 😂

They’re BACK! And after last week’s demand, we’ve gone big on these beautiful Queensland pineapples. Some of you are even asking us to put a few aside!

Here’s something you might not know…

Although a pineapple can continue turning golden yellow after it’s picked, it doesn’t actually develop more sugar. Unlike bananas and mangoes, its sweetness is largely determined while it’s still growing.

That’s why harvest maturity is so important, and why finding a really good pineapple makes such a difference!

These particular pineapples have been an absolute standout for sweetness and juiciness. They arrive at the markets early in the week, so once they’re gone, we’ll have to wait until the following week for more of this particular variety.

🍓 Something special coming up? Let us source the fruit for you!

Remember those spectacular Rocky Creek long-stem strawberries from Victoria last week?

We’re now taking pre-orders for the premium 20-piece long-stem trays, perfect for chocolate dipping, entertaining, gifting and special occasions.

We’re also stocking their premium 400g strawberries, ideal for chocolate dipping without the long stems, alongside their 250g XXL punnets.

And it doesn’t stop at strawberries! If you’re planning an event or looking for something a little out of the ordinary, come and chat with us. We’re happy to explore sourcing specialty seasonal fruit specifically for you, subject to market availability.

🍈 A little rockmelon wisdom from Chris Parisi!

We recently picked up a great tip from Chris Parisi, whose family has been in the fresh produce industry for generations.

When you cut open a rockmelon, a lovely thin rind and small seed cavity are desirable because they leave more room for that beautiful edible flesh!

For a whole rockmelon, look for a creamy background colour beneath the netted skin rather than green.

We’ve taste-tested this week’s rockmelons and they’re beautiful. We’re offering them in halves too!

🍇 And the favourites keep coming!

Our crunchy, sweet seedless grapes are back after another sellout, the passionfruit are practically selling themselves, and we’ve got beautiful mangoes, berries, yellow-fleshed watermelon, new-season local zucchini and plenty more.

We’re also trialling bags of potatoes for family roasts and weekend barbecues!

Every week we’re tasting, comparing and selecting produce at the markets, looking for those exceptional finds that are worth bringing back to Avoca.

And judging by how many of you are returning for your favourites…

Once you know, you know! ❤️

22/10/2026

🍓 SOME THINGS ARE WORTH NOT WAITING FOR! 🍍🥭

Remember those enormous Heavenly strawberries we brought in from Western Australia a few weeks ago?

We had quite a few people tell us they’d pop back for them later, only to miss out on those extraordinary berries!

Well, here’s something interesting about strawberry growing…

Strawberry plants often produce their largest fruit during the early flushes of a harvest. As the season progresses, berry sizes generally become smaller, and growers can’t always continue grading out those enormous premium strawberries we were lucky enough to get our hands on.

But here’s the exciting part! 🍓

Victoria’s strawberry season is now getting underway, and we’re catching that same early-season opportunity all over again!

This week we’ve sourced beautiful premium 400g punnets and spectacular long-stem strawberry trays from Rocky Creek Farm on the Mornington Peninsula.

The long-stem strawberries are particularly special, perfect for chocolate dipping, entertaining or simply enjoying as they are!

And while we can continue ordering trays as the season progresses, these exceptionally large early-season berries won’t necessarily be available again.

With strawberries arriving from Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, we’re enjoying a wonderful crossover of growing regions, growers and selections right now. There’s plenty to explore beyond your everyday punnet!

🥭 MANGO SEASON IS ON THE MOVE!

Our Kensington Pride mangoes are following the Australian harvest as production transitions through the Northern Territory, from Darwin into Katherine.

And here’s something interesting we’ve been hearing around Sydney Markets!

There’s a bit of talk among the traders that the Kensington Pride mangoes coming out of the Katherine region are another step up in eating quality from the earlier Darwin fruit. That’s market word of mouth rather than a hard and fast rule, but we’re certainly excited to see how they compare!

And we’re still looking forward to Queensland’s major growing regions, particularly Mareeba and Dimbulah, coming into their main season.

It’s one of the things we love about following Australian produce through the seasons. Even when you’re buying the same variety, there’s always another grower, another region and potentially another exceptional eating experience just around the corner!

🍍 AN AUSTRALIAN-GROWN GEM FOR PINEAPPLE LOVERS!

We’ve found something rather special at the markets this week!

These are Aus Jubilee pineapples, an Australian-developed variety that was the result of around 15 years of breeding research right here in Queensland!

And they weren’t just bred to look pretty. Researchers specifically selected them for their exceptional sweetness, beautiful aromatic flavour and firm, golden flesh.

And it’s not just us getting excited about their eating quality. Aus Jubilee was among three Australian-bred varieties that received top flavour ratings in a Queensland Government consumer taste assessment.

It’s always exciting to come across something a little different at the markets, particularly when there’s such an interesting Australian growing story behind it!

❤️ AND THAT BRINGS US TO SOMETHING DAVE AND I HAVE LEARNT OVER THE YEARS…

Not just with fruit, but with life in general.

You know when you see something you’d love to try, somewhere you’d love to stop, or something you’d really like to experience?

And you tell yourself, “We’ll do it on the way back” or “We’ll come back for that later.”

More often than not, you don’t.

And sometimes, when you finally do, that particular opportunity has passed.

There’s always something else wonderful around the corner, but it isn’t necessarily the same thing.

That’s one of the things we love most about following the seasons and sourcing produce from different growers.

When something special catches your eye, sometimes you’ve just got to seize the moment!

See you at the Friendly Grocer! ❤️

19/10/2026

🍍 Once you know, you know! And judging by how quickly some of our market finds are disappearing lately, the word is definitely getting around! 👀

There’s a little community of fresh produce lovers growing here at Avoca Beach, and we absolutely love it!

We’re seeing familiar faces returning each week, customers bringing their friends down, and people making a special trip after watching our market updates. Some of you have even worked out exactly when to pop in to get first pick of the good stuff! 😂

And that’s exactly what we’re trying to create. We’re not a fruit shop, we’re your little local grocer doing things a bit differently!

🍍 PINEAPPLE LOVERS, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU!
We’ve discovered some beautiful hybrid pineapples grown in the Yeppoon region of Queensland. Hybrid varieties are developed through selective breeding to bring together desirable characteristics such as sweetness, texture and lower acidity. And here’s something interesting: pineapples don’t actually get sweeter after they’re harvested, so maturity at picking is incredibly important!

🍓 THREE STATES, THREE STRAWBERRY EXPERIENCES!
This week we’ve sourced strawberries from Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Different growing regions, varieties and climates can produce noticeably different eating experiences. Some strawberries are beautifully aromatic, others are exceptionally sweet, and some have that lovely balance of sweetness and acidity. It’s a great opportunity to try something different and discover your favourite!

🥭 MANGO SEASON IS GAINING MOMENTUM!
October is a wonderful time for Australian mango lovers, with the Northern Territory helping kick off the season before production moves progressively into Queensland as the warmer months arrive. We’re enjoying some beautiful early-season fruit, and there’s plenty more to look forward to!

🍇 THE CRUNCH IS BACK!
Our new-season Australian grapes have been turning heads! That satisfying crunch comes from the grape’s firm flesh and skin, and it’s one of the characteristics growers work hard to achieve alongside sweetness and flavour.

🥑 AND ABOUT THOSE AVOCADOS…
We’re discovering that a good avocado is one of the quickest ways to turn a first-time customer into a regular! 😂 We’re putting plenty of effort into sourcing quality fruit and managing ripeness so there’s a better chance of finding one that’s ready when you need it.

❤️ The best part of all this?

We’re learning what you love along the way. Every compliment, repeat visit and recommendation helps us make better decisions at the markets.

We might only have a small produce display, but there’s a whole lot of thought, early mornings and enthusiasm behind what goes into it!

And with our watermelon surprise and giveaway announcement coming later this week, there’s plenty more to look forward to! 🍉🎁

If you’ve become one of our regular market-find hunters, tell us: what’s been your favourite discovery so far? 🍍🍓🥑🍊🍉🍇

15/10/2026

🍌 WHERE HAVE ALL THE BANANAS GONE?! 🍌

If you’ve noticed bananas looking a little greener than usual or disappearing from supermarket shelves altogether, you’re not imagining things!

Welcome back to another weekly market update from our little grocer doing things differently in Avoca Beach! 🥭🍓

We’ve got some beautiful finds this week, but first, a little insight into what’s happening in the fresh produce world!

🍌 WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH BANANAS?

Australia’s banana supply is experiencing a bit of a squeeze, with cooler and wetter conditions in Far North Queensland slowing production and affecting the availability of ripe fruit.

Queensland grows the vast majority of Australia’s bananas, so when growing conditions change up north, we feel the effects all the way down here in NSW!

That’s why you might be noticing empty shelves or unusually green bananas in stores at the moment.

The good news is that supply should gradually improve as growing conditions become more favourable. In the meantime, we’re doing our best to keep good-quality bananas available for our customers!

🍓 IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW! 🥭

Our weekly market videos might make it look like we’ve opened an entire fruit shop, but there’s a little more happening behind the scenes! 😂

We’re still your little beachside grocer, just with a serious passion for exceptional fresh produce!

Each week, we bring together our beautiful market finds for filming before carefully storing everything in our cool room and rotating it through our fresh produce section as customers shop.

And these days, we’re replenishing that little display almost every half hour! 🤯

We’ve built a wonderful following of loyal customers who have discovered the difference in what we’re sourcing.

They know when something special comes through the markets, it’s worth popping down for!

Whether it’s an incredible new-season variety, fruit from a boutique grower or something you rarely see on supermarket shelves, our regulars have become pretty good at spotting the good stuff! 👀

We’re not just filling shelves. We’re giving people a reason to get excited about fresh food again.

And if you’re new around here, welcome! Now you’re in on it too! ❤️

🎁 OUR FREE GIVEAWAY IS COMING!

Remember that little giveaway we teased last week?

We’re getting closer to announcing the details!

Soon, you’ll be able to spend a certain amount in store and receive a fantastic FREE gift, with three different options to choose from!

Keep an eye on our upcoming videos because we’ll be revealing exactly how you can get your hands on one! 🎁

❤️ THANK YOU, AVOCA BEACH!

Whether you’re popping in for your everyday essentials or coming down specifically to discover what we’ve found at the markets, every visit supports our little independent grocer and allows us to keep doing things differently.

We absolutely love seeing how excited our community has become about beautiful fresh produce!

📍 Avoca Beach Friendly Grocer

🥭 Tell us, what’s been your favourite market discovery from our little shop so far? 🍓

10/10/2026

🎁 FREE GIVEAWAY incoming… and you’ll want to keep an eye on our page for this one 👀

We’ve got something planned for the coming weeks: spend a certain amount in store and get one of these goodies completely FREE. We’ll reveal the details soon, so keep watching!

And there’s even more in store than you’ll see in this week’s market update. 🍓🥥 Our giant Heavenly premium strawberries are back, and we’ve just landed Coco Thumb drinkable coconuts too. Crack one open, pop in a straw and enjoy fresh coconut water straight from the coconut.

🌱 A little market education: as the seasons shift, so do the varieties coming through Flemington. That’s one of our favourite parts of buying this way. We can move with the season, compare growers and varieties, taste what’s coming through and choose what we think is eating best right now.

This week that means beautiful new-season local zucchini, crisp sweet grapes, and a switch to the larger Lakeland Panama passionfruit after trying them and loving the flavour and juice.

We’re not tied to buying the same line from the same supplier every week. If something better comes through the market, that’s what we want on our shelves.

Fresh from Sydney Markets and on the shelves now at Avoca Beach Friendly Grocer 🍓🍇🥑🥥

Now, about that giveaway… which of the three would you choose? 👀🎁

04/10/2026

If you haven’t discovered this little grocer in Avoca Beach yet… this might be your sign 🍓🍫

Today Valli and I put our current favourite strawberries to a very important test: dipped in chocolate. 😂

These are the WA Heavenly strawberries, and they are definitely not your everyday punnet. They come in a huge 500g premium punnet, packed with big, beautiful fruit.

And here’s a little fun fact about what makes them so special. They’re an Albion strawberry, grown by the Lieu family just north of Perth. The plants actually produce fewer strawberries and the fruit is left on the plant longer, giving the sugars more time to develop. The Heavenly team even Brix-tests the fruit for sweetness and hand-selects the berries that make the grade. 🍓

Basically, exactly the kind of unusual, premium produce we love hunting down at the markets.

And who better to help with the official chocolate-dipped taste test than Valli. ❤️

If you’ve been into our shop before, there’s a very good chance you already know her. Valli has been part of our little team for four years now and is one of those people who brings such a positive attitude to work. She’s a familiar, friendly face behind the counter and a genuinely valued part of Avoca Beach Friendly Grocer.

We also thought our brand-new mural made a pretty good backdrop for the taste test. 🌿🍓 If you haven’t seen it in person yet, come past and have a look!

So… are strawberries better dipped in chocolate, or are the really good ones best left alone? 👀


02/10/2026

👀 There’s a little grocer in Avoca Beach doing things a bit differently…

We don’t head to the markets looking for the same everyday fruit and veg going to the big shops. We’re looking for the small boutique growers, the short seasons, the unusual varieties and those beautiful export-quality lines that only turn up in small quantities. And sometimes we’ll happily take a little less margin ourselves if it means you get to try something bigger, better or genuinely special without the crazy price tag.

This morning was a pretty good example. 🍓

There was a bit of a frenzy around the Heavenly strawberries from WA, and we managed to get our hands on a small number. They’re an Albion variety grown by the Lieu family north of Perth, hand-picked and packed, with fruit sampled for Brix (sugar) levels to make sure it meets the Heavenly standard. And some of them are HUGE. 😂

Our funny-looking Summerinas are back too. 🍊 Don’t judge them by their skin! That bumpy outside is part of the variety. They’re naturally seedless, easy to peel, super juicy and one of the last mandarins of the season, with only a short window around October and November.

And yes, this was market trip number TWO this week. 😂 We headed back again this morning to load up for the long weekend, with our pre-ordered pineapples, passionfruit, raspberries and plenty more making their way back to Avoca.

You might have noticed something else is looking a little different too… 👀

We filmed this week’s update out the front because Andy is SO close to finishing our new mural. We’ve loved watching everyone stop, have a look and tell us what they think as it’s taken shape. ❤️

So if you’re from elsewhere on the Central Coast and haven’t discovered our little grocer in Avoca yet, come and see what we’re up to.

And our locals… who’s already seen the new wall in person? 👀

30/09/2026

Something’s happening out the front… 👀🎨

If you’ve been past today, you might already know what we’re up to! We’ve had so many lovely comments already and it’s only just getting started. Watch to the end for a little peek 👀

🍊 I told you I had a trick up my sleeve for the Sumos!
Meet the Summerina. Sweet, juicy, seedless and easy to peel, this Aussie-bred mandarin comes into its own just as our beloved Sumos finish up. They’ve got a short season, so enjoy them while they’re here!

🍍 And this isn’t our only market run this week. We’re heading back Friday for the long-weekend haul, with our pre-ordered pineapples waiting for us, plus more passionfruit, raspberries and a few other goodies.

School holidays are here, the long weekend is coming, and you’ve already managed to clean us out of bananas AND avocados once this week 😂

Now, who’s already seen what’s happening out the front, and what do you think so far? 🎨💚

23/09/2026

🍇 Grapes are back… but why are the first good ones coming all the way from the Northern Territory?

Australia’s grape season follows the warmth, and right now the early-season fruit is beginning up north before the season progressively moves into the major southern growing regions. This week we managed to get our hands on some beautiful Australian Sweet Globe™ green seedless grapes from the NT.

And these aren’t just any green grapes. Sweet Globe™ is a specially bred, licensed variety, selected for its large berries, sweetness and that really firm, crisp crunch. Exactly what we were waiting for before putting grapes back on our shelf. 🍇👌

There’s plenty of change happening across the fruit shop this week. Our beloved Sumo mandarins have officially come to an end 😢, but Golden Nuggets are eating beautifully and taking their place for now.

Passionfruit lovers also get a good week. We’ve got our OPA12s back, plus another small drop of those beautiful Lakeland passionfruit. They have that distinctive sweet, almost floral eating quality, but they don’t come through consistently, so we grabbed two boxes while we could.

🍓 Three different strawberry options this week
🍍 Double the pineapples after you loved them last week
🥑 Beautiful avocados that we’ll keep rotating through for different stages of ripeness
🍉 And apparently we’re now throwing watermelons at Amelia for quality control 😂

There’s also something happening out the front of the shop… 👀 Keep an eye on that over the next week.

Lots changing, lots arriving, and another very good week to eat seasonally. 💚

Thanks, as always, for supporting your little local grocer.

Address

178 Avoca Drive
Avoca Beach, NSW
2251

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 8pm
Tuesday 7am - 8pm
Wednesday 7am - 8pm
Thursday 7am - 8pm
Friday 7am - 8pm
Saturday 7am - 8pm
Sunday 7am - 8pm

Telephone

+61243821884

Website

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