Iceberg lettuce farmers say a nationwide supply shortage is unlikely to be eased soon
The humble iceberg lettuce used to be one of our cheapest veggies, but SA producers say huge prices could be here for months – and shortages are here to stay.
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There’s no end in sight for skyrocketing prices on fresh produce, businesses say, as a nationwide shortage forces the humble iceberg lettuce up to luxury food item status.
Flooding in Queensland and particularly wet weather in other regions, along with cost increases for fertiliser and fuel are major factors in iceberg lettuce prices rising to above $5 in supermarkets – and in some extreme cases up to $12.
Woolworths’ online store on Wednesday was completely out of iceberg lettuce.
Butter and cheese prices are also set to soar.
Chris Musolino, who grows the iceberg variety in Port Gawler, said extreme weather in Queensland and Hay, alongside the Victorian season finishing, created “the perfect storm” for pricing.
“They’re tipping that the Queenslanders will start harvesting in the next little bit, but the quality won’t be there because they’ll all be waterlogged,” he said.
Mr Musolino said a buying agent told him the Musolinos’ businesses were among the few in South Australia currently supplying the Australian market – but he also understood WA was working hard to meet demand.
“We’re cutting more and more and trying to get everyone out of trouble if we can but that leaves consequences down the track if you cut yourself into a gap,” he said.
Growers’ additional costs meant profits were “nothing like it looks on paper”, producing “an average return in the end”, Mr Musolino said.
His cousin Paul Musolino, who grows for a separate business in Virginia, estimated increased overheads meant it now cost about $2 to produce a lettuce, compared with $1 this time last year.
“Prices are going through the roof,” he said, adding the cost of production had roughly doubled.
High supermarket prices might last for two to three months, Mr Musolino predicted.
At Lewiston, Juliet Tripodi, sales manager for salad vegetables producer Rainbow Fresh, said other vegetable prices were also increasing and the lack of supply would soon strip supermarkets of some produce.
“What we will see is you won’t even be able to put it on a plate,” she said.
“We’re coming into a time when Queensland is (in) an ideal season for a lot of things you can’t grow here, but in that period where they should have been planting, they had floods … and something like an iceberg lettuce takes three or four months to get to size.”
It comes as Don Ruggiero, director of major lettuce business Swanport Harvest, is selling the business and 92ha landholdings.
AusVeg SA chief executive Jordan Brooke-Barnett said the state had 5–10 large producers, and the sale of Swanport Harvest was unlikely to affect lettuce pricing.
SA Produce Market’s Penny Reidy said hydroponically grown lettuces presented a cheaper option as they were not affected by flooding or wet weather.
michelle.etheridge@news.com.au
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Originally published as Iceberg lettuce farmers say a nationwide supply shortage is unlikely to be eased soon
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