Coles boss says fruit and vegetable shortage ‘crisis’ will last for weeks longer, suggests trying new recipes

With the price of iceberg lettuce nearing $7, Coles has urged customers battling soaring grocery prices to “try different recipes”.

With the price of iceberg lettuce nearing $7, Coles has urged customers battling soaring grocery prices to “try different recipes” as the supermarket offers an update on when shortages affecting fresh produce might start to ease.

Speaking to Nine’s Today on Tuesday morning, Coles chief operating officer Matt Swindells blamed the soaring fruit and vegetable prices and widespread shortages on a “double whammy” affecting the fresh produce industries.

“The first has been the floods that we all remember that went through southeast Queensland, northern NSW,” he said.

“That damaged crops but it also stopped the farmers being able to plant. You can’t get on to fields and plant crops when the fields are that bad and that creates this gap in supply.”

That was then being “compounded with one of the coldest winters in decades”.

“So the crops that we have managed to get into the ground, they’re not growing as fast as they normally would do and that is because of the cold weather and the lack of sunlight,” he said.

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Floods earlier this year caused serious problems for farmers in southeast Queensland and northern NSW. Picture: John Grainger

“Produce is an area that when supply is stronger, mother nature is kind and produce qualities are amazing, the price is low and so through this period, you’ve seen availability challenges combined with high prices.”

Mr Swindells said the shortages in specific categories like lettuce, berries and beans would last “probably a few weeks” longer.

“The berries will recover quicker but the lettuce is quite delicate as a product to grow, so that might take a little bit longer,” he said.

But he pointed out there were “other products across produce that are in abundance”.

“Pumpkin is cheap, when it is cold and wintry, pumpkin and pumpkin soup will go quite far, the kids will love it and still get their healthy fruit and veg,” he said.

Coles has urged shoppers to consider picking different vegetables to combat high prices. Picture: AAP Image/Claudia Baxter

“So there are plenty of other products you can trade while those volumes recover. It is important that when they do, we get them in abundance and support those farmers and start moving those volumes again.”

Mr Swindells said Coles was working with suppliers to beef up supply.

“Our produce team were up in the flood-affected regions at the very beginning and again last week working and talking to all of our suppliers about … what does the upcoming volume look like, and how do we partner with them longer-term to give them security and surety that we’re going to have a great business for the future and get through this crisis together,” he said.

Bare shelves at Woolworths as shortages worsen. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Asked what his advice was for families doing their shopping over the next few weeks, Mr Swindells urged customers to be “flexible”.

“There is still plenty of citrus, plenty of apples, pears, grapes – yes, veggies are under pressure but you can still find great value across the shop,” he said.

“You don’t to have come away from eating healthy. There are lots of different areas that you can still buy produce in. Maybe try a few different recipes. We learnt through Covid that we can be flexible in our recipes and the family still loves it. It is time to give that another roll.”

Consumer prices continue to rise

The latest inflation data from the ABS showed consumer prices rose 5.1 per cent over the 12 months to the March 2022 quarter, the highest rate since 2009.

Food prices were up 2.8 per cent on the previous quarter, with a 6.6 per cent increase in vegetables and 4.9 per cent increase in fruit due to Covid-related supply chain disruptions, and high transport and fertiliser costs.

“Flooding in production areas of NSW and Queensland also disrupted supply in early March, placing additional pressure on vegetable prices late in the quarter,” the ABS said.

“Meat and seafoods rose 4.8 per cent due to herd rebuilding in response to favourable weather conditions, reducing supply. Supply chain disruptions and high transport costs also contributed to the rise. Waters, soft drinks and juices rose 5.6 per cent due to packaging, ingredient and freight costs pressures.”

Over the past 12 months, overall food and beverage prices rose by 4.3 per cent, with beef and veal up 12.1 per cent and vegetables up 12.7 per cent.

Rising fuel, energy and fertiliser costs have contributed to price increases around the world, along with supply chain disruptions and shortages caused by China’s Covid lockdowns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Together the perfect storm of events has led to increasingly dire warnings of a global food crisis, with Russia and Ukraine together making up around one-third of global wheat exports.

Last week, leading global health figure Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said a food shortage could be “just as deadly” as a worldwide pandemic.

“It’s not as well-defined as some brand new pathogen appearing with distinctive new symptoms,” he told Reuters. “But it could well be just as deadly.”

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Originally published as Coles boss says fruit and vegetable shortage ‘crisis’ will last for weeks longer, suggests trying new recipes