First it was lettuce, now strawberries are being sold at amazing prices, with a Canberra supermarket asking for $ 11.99 for a 250g punch.
Key points:
- Strawberries are being sold for $ 11.99 a day at a Canberra supermarket
- Wet weather and disease have delayed winter production in Queensland
- The president of the producers’ association says it could take a month for prices to fall
To put it in perspective, the same supermarket that sold the expensive Victorian-grown punnets discounted the fruit to three for $ 2 in August last year.
Queensland Strawberry Grower President Adrian Schultz said prices would remain high because the humid climate and disease had decimated crops at a time when the nation depended on Queensland winter strawberries.
“It’s amazing, really unheard of,” Schultz said.
“To put it bluntly it would be a record, but what needs to be remembered is that farmers are not getting rich with these prices.”
The punnets were produced by Australia’s largest strawberry grower, Sunny Ridge in Victoria, which would normally have finished its season by now.
But Victoria and Stanthorpe farmers have continued to harvest because Queensland’s top winter growers, around Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg, have delayed production by up to a month.
Adrian Schultz says the current prices of strawberries in the store are unprecedented. (ABC Rural: Melanie Groves)
Berries Australia CEO Rachel Mackenzie said the harsh climate in key growth regions is behind high prices.
“Mostly at this time of year, under normal weather conditions, we have a fairly high amount of supply coming out of south-east Queensland, which accounts for around 90 per cent of the supply,” he said.
Ashbern Farms offers year-round strawberries growing in Stanthorpe in summer and in Glass House Mountains in winter.
But co-owner Brendon Hoyle said the Sunshine Coast harvest had just begun, when it would normally begin in May.
“It’s been a very difficult start to the season with the torrential downpour we’ve experienced in cloudy and humid weather, which has dominated virtually from planting to our first strawberry hit,” he said.
“At the moment there is absolutely no supply, all the farmers are sitting waiting for the harvest to arrive.”
He said other factors such as rising production and transportation costs were also having an effect.
Prices in Australia have skyrocketed with a $ 250g punch between $ 7 and $ 12. (ABC Rural: Lucy Cooper)
The disease makes it difficult to harvest
Hoyle said the humid climate was not the only one facing strawberry growers with headwinds, as plant diseases also caused headaches.
“There are a myriad of fungal diseases with which strawberries will suffer if given the right conditions,” he said.
[At] at the start of the season, when the daytime temperatures are 23 to 27 and it is extremely humid, any of the fungal problems we normally experience just take over and it’s just a real battle to try to keep them under control. “
Strawberry grower Brendon Hoyle says recent rain has affected plant health. (ABC Rural: Melanie Groves)
Strawberries have experienced an incredible variation in prices over the last 12 months.
A 250g punch cost $ 1.50 in September 2021.
Ms Mackenzie said she hoped Australian consumers would continue to support the industry.
“We have to remember that when prices are high, only a very small number of producers get those premium prices,” he said.
“But when prices are low, almost everyone is paid below the cost of production.”
Rachel Mackenzie says strawberry prices will go down as supply increases. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
It will not last forever
Ms Mackenzie said prices would go down as soon as supply increased.
“I hope that with the current number of plants on the ground the supply will start to normalize quite soon and we will see prices consistent with previous years,” he said.
“Producers in northern WA are definitely having a great season and probably make up the bulk of what we’re seeing in stores right now.”
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Posted 16 hours ago 16 hours ago Thu, June 16, 2022 at 11:03 PM, updated 15 hours, 15 hours ago, Thu, June 16, 2022 at 11:39 PM