Adelaide’s Finest Supermarkets set to slash the price of lettuce and supply and quality starts to improve

Have you been leaving lettuce in the shop because of high prices? Well get ready to fill the crisper this week.

The lettuce drought appears to be over with prices set to plummet this week as growers start meeting market demand.

It comes as growers in South Australia and Western Australia have started ramping up their production with fewer cold snaps affecting the produce.

Ella Waltham, 18, of Kensington Gardens, picked up two lettuces for $10 at Foodland Frewville where she goes once a week for a bulk food shop.

“It is good to see the price is coming down; I do eat a bit of salad and some fruit and veg has been quite expensive in the past few months,” she said.

Foodland Frewville and Pasadena will sell lettuce for as little as $1 from Wednesday, a far cry from the high of $12 in recent months.

Frewville Foodland customer Ella Waltham, 18, with lettuce at $5 each, better than $12 but not as low as it will go. Picture: The Advertiser/ Morgan Sette

Adelaide’s Finest Supermarkets director Spero Chapley said his stores will offer the special as a way of giving back to those doing it tough under the current climate.

“With supply coming back, we’ve decided to go at a very discounted price to try and ease the strain on cost of living,” he said.

“Everybody is feeling it at the moment, so we just wanted to do something positive to the extent we can.”

The retail price is expected to drop to around $3 at most supermarkets.

Mr Chapley said better weather conditions have prompted the price drop.

“It was sort of the perfect storm for a few months, with floods in the eastern states and cold snaps across Australia,” he said.

“There was limited supply and the product wasn’t really up to scratch, but growers have been able to rectify that.”

Mr Chapley was apprehensive to predict the future for the leafy vegetable, but he said there was definitely more confidence in the market.

“Retail prices are currently around $5 and they were around $6.50 for a few weeks and then $8 prior to that,” he said.

“While I’m reluctant to predict the future, it’s a good sign that prices have been dropping and quality improving.”

The cheaper prices could prompt a surge by shoppers eager to fill their crispers, but Mr Chapley said they will have plenty of stock.

“We wouldn’t do it if we couldn’t keep the shelves stocked,” he said.