Broccoli and cauliflower prices to ease after record high

Broccoli and cauliflower reached record prices in March as shoppers stocked-up for the coronavirus lockdown. But as supply catches up with demand, prices are easing.

Luis Gazzola, who owns Gazzola Farms with Paul, Colin and Andrew Gazzola, at their Somerville property.

RECORD prices for broccoli and cauliflower at the height of Australia’s panic buying spree earlier this year are expected to ease as production catches up to demand.

Vegetable growers have been playing catch-up to unprecedented levels of demand for their produce that peaked in March when the nation was placed in lockdown due to COVID-19, forcing restaurants to close and prompting shoppers to raid supermarkets, according to Rural Bank’s June Insights report.

The report said while the run on a range of vegetables, hard varieties and those with a longer shelf life in particular, led prices to more than double their long-term average, that upward trajectory had come to an end and would continue to level out over coming months.

The report also said the broccoli and cauliflower supply shortage driven by drought, bushfires and COVID-19 would ease as production along the east coast rebounded.

Broccoli prices have almost returned to the long-term average of $2.14/kg, after reaching $4.18/kg in March, the report said.

Rural Bank southern Victoria regional agribusiness manager Josie Zilm said good rainfall on the east coast had helped production rebound, particularly in Victoria, which accounted for 47 per cent of broccoli and 44 per cent of cauliflower grown nationally.

Gazzola Farms director Paul Gazzola said he had heard of wholesale broccoli prices that reached $10/kg at Queensland’s wholesale market for isolated sales.

“The average definitely got to over $5/kg. There was probably two weeks where everything went ballistic,” Mr Gazzola said.

Ms Zilm said demand for early season navel oranges has been high, with prices up more than 42 per cent compared with the same time last year.

“Consumers both domestically and overseas are prioritising fruit with immunity- boosting properties, which is leading to an increase in demand for oranges.”

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