'Who is buying these?' Price of blueberries at Sydney market stuns shoppers

"Yes, they're out of season, but SERIOUSLY?!"

Berries are the undisputed G.O.A.T of all fruits. Sure, they’re healthy, but they’re also super delicious and feel fancy, as opposed to, say, a mandarin (no hate to mandos, but let's be real here.)

For me, I can't go past a blueberry.

I love putting them in my morning yoghurt bowls or throwing them into a smoothie. But as supermarkets have driven fresh berry prices sky-high, I've had to resort to frozen blueberries, which are $6.20 for 500g, or $12.40/kilo at my local Coles. I’m only a millennial trying to save for a house after all. 

So you can understand my shock when, this past Sunday, I was wandering through my local farmers market to see how the 2% live and noticed blueberries, albeit premium ones, that were being sold for a staggering $25 per punnet.

$25!!!

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The blueberries at the Manly farmers markets in Sydney. Image: Supplied

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"Was anyone actually buying them?"

Now, I'm well aware that it's currently winter in Australia, and berries are a summer fruit. I'm also aware that berries are expensive everywhere at the moment—$6 for a 125g fresh punnet at Coles and $5.50 for the same-sized punnet at Woolies.

But seriously, who is buying these $25 punnets? Are these people living in a parallel universe where the cost-of-living crisis doesn't exist? And if they are, surely they’d still realise that this is daylight robbery. Nobody is dying for a bloob that bad, surely. 

Remember when blueberries were a mere $2.50 per punnet at the beginning of the year? 

I don’t.

It’s nothing but a distant memory now...

I looked around at the markets, trying to canvass the vibe of other shoppers. Were they seeing this?! 

It was then that I spotted a man who looked to be in his late 20s like me, walking to the checkout with one of these offensively priced punnets. 

He casually handed them over to the fruit seller, along with other obnoxiously-out-of-season fruits like pineapple and mango, and started scrolling on his phone. Clearly not saving for a house, I thought.

But his nonchalance quickly turned to chalance when he saw his total bill.

Singling out the culprit, he picked up the punnet and sheepishly put them back on the very full, very untouched stack of others, which was right where I was standing, creepily watching this whole encounter unfold.

I quickly turned to the blueberries, pretending I too, was capable of purchasing them, picked a pack up, took it for a lap of the stall, then put it back down and slipped out. 

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"Eat different fruit"

Come Monday morning, I was still stewing about what I had seen, so decided to ask my colleagues for their thoughts…

"It's the middle of winter and berries are summer fruits, so it's expected that they would be expensive at this time of year. In saying that, $25 still seems excessive," Liz said, validating me entirely. 

Then Nama chimed in with, "Jesus Christ, I just paid $16 for two 'premium' punnets from Harris Farms and thought that was a hike! $25 is price gouging."

Leah said: "It's ridiculous and not a great time if you have a kid who loves berries for a healthy snack. My local farmers market has them for the same price, so does Costco. I guess you should expect to pay higher for imported fruit."

Then Pilar pointed out: "When it’s not in season, stop complaining about the price and eat different fruit.” 

Ouch.

I may have forgotten to mention that I was the ‘stunned shopper’ before sending the photo to the group chat. You gotta stay anonymous and unbiased to get the good quotes, ya know?

She added: "Also, kids can handle it when you say, 'Sorry, but you can’t have any right now.' Plus, when it’s not in season, it’s not even yummy anyway, so why would you bother?"

And finally, Jordana was on board the frozen train with me, saying: "This is where frozen saves the day! While the prices fluctuate, it’s always less than $25!!!"

So, it’s clear that these inflated costs are a direct result of berries being out of season, and perhaps we really ought to just follow our grandmother’s advice (or Curtis Stone's... he's so sexy) and 'eat seasonally'. 

But $25 per punnet? That’s taking the piss it to a whole new level and I’ll be sticking to my frozen pouches for the foreseeable future. 

In the meantime, my nosy ass will also continue to people-watch at the fruit markets in the name of 'research.'

Maybe I'll spot a celeb or two. Wait, no, they probably have personal chefs who do their shopping.

I’ll more likely see some poor soul realise the price too late and be too awkward to speak up. Enjoy rationing those berries out for the next few weeks, my friend. 

Originally published as 'Who is buying these?' Price of blueberries at Sydney market stuns shoppers