Humble cauliflower rises to a head above the rest

CAULIFLOWERS are soaring in popularity and it’s believed higher prices won’t dampen demand.

Eumarrah shop assistant Emily Rawlings with chemical-free cauliflowers

CAULIFLOWERS are soaring in popularity and the industry believes higher prices will do nothing to dampen demand.

More households in Australia bought the humble brassica in March this year than in March last year, and figures have been trending up since December, AusVeg said.

People had also been spending more on cauliflower, a staple for soups and increasingly popular as an alternative to mashed potato or rice.

AusVeg said recent spikes in the price, attributed to supply issues, were not expected to affect future demand.

“We’ve seen an abnormally high spend per household for cauliflower over the last three or four months, with the average spend for February sitting 26 per cent higher than the same time last year,” AusVeg industry development assistant manager Kurt Hermann said.

He said consumers were returning to cauli as a favourite in colder months.

Nielsen Homescan data also showed sweet potato, pumpkin and broccoli were more popular as the weather cooled.

Eumarrah Organic and Natural Food stocks Tasmanian-grown chemical-free caulis.

Manager Maria Kantzos said cauliflower was a little like kale in becoming “cool”.

“It’s popular in soups and as an alternative to mashed potato,” Ms Kantzos said.

She said there was pressure on prices around Australia.

“We keep our prices very competitive.”