Shopper spots insane price on peeled mandarin in Sydney

A Sydney retailer is charging an extortionate price for a mandarin that’s been peeled and packaged in an environmentally friendly cup.

An insane image of a piece of fruit advertised for an extortionate price has raised eyebrows after it was spotted on a shelf in Sydney.

Concealed inside a clear BioPak cup on a shelf at an unknown retailer in the city’s Eastern Suburbs was a mandarin that had been pealed.

Even more outrageous was the vegetarian and gluten free item’s price — $9.50.

Mandarins typically cost between 30 and 50 cents at the supermarket.

A photo of the expensive cup was shared to Twitter on Thursday where it prompted a shocked response.

“A mate just sent me this … no surprise it’s in the Eastern Suburbs. It’s a peeled mandarin in a cup,” the person behind the post read.

The scene was described “daylight robbery” by one respondent and “outrageous” by another.

Others pointed out the sight was particularly strange given mandarins came with their own packaging.

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The peeled mandarin was on sale for almost $10. Picture: Twitter

“If only nature had a way of serving this up so we didn’t need so much plastic,” one reply read.

“Only to be thrown out tomorrow. Outrageous,” someone else said.

Some joked that the mandarin was a good deal when business expenses were factored in.

“Reasonable, it took someone 10 minutes to peel and pack it. At $30/hour. That’s $5 labour plus product, packaging and profit margin to cover rent and overheads. Where can I buy it?” one wrote.

Someone else pointed out that often pre-peeled fruit and vegetables were good for people with disabilities.

“People with disabilities love things like this same with cut up veggies etc,” they wrote.

Another replied suggesting: “think it’s about the price not the product”.

The insane mandarin prices comes at a time of extreme hikes across a variety of fresh produce amid supply struggles.

Aussies are set to be hit by a new price hike, with the cost of watermelons hitting a whopping $34 at one major supermarket.

Whole melons are being sold as much as $34 each, or $3.90/kg at Woolworths stores, while over at Coles, you can save a couple of dollars buying a whole 8kg fruit for $28, averaging around $3.50/kg, but it’s still quite a hike.

A spokesman for Woolworths told NCA NewsWire the online price was not an accurate reflection of the store‘s prices.

Watermelons were charged at $3.90 per kilo in store, and $34 each online – with customers refunded the difference if the size of the melon they got was not of equal value.

A Woolworths spokesman told NCA NewsWire the price hike was due to weather conditions, supply and demand.

“We pay farmers the market price for their produce, which can vary throughout the year due to weather, seasonality, supply and demand,” they said.

“Currently, we’re paying a lot more to our suppliers for watermelon due to the reduced supply in the market and ongoing bad weather in key growing regions.”

“We operate in a highly competitive market and we’re always working to strike the right balance so suppliers receive a fair market price and our customers have access to affordable fresh produce.”