Beans, broccoli and tomatoes join iceberg lettuce’s trajectory

A number of fruits and vegetables will join the iceberg lettuce trajectory, as prices increase by a whopping 90-to-200 per cent.

At $12 a head, iceberg lettuce may as well be rolled in gold.

The price of the once humble salad vegetable has hit the headlines and stayed there for weeks, in part by fast-food chain KFC’s shock decision to substitute it for cabbage now that its price has rocketed 200 per cent above its long-term average at the Melbourne wholesale market.

The vegetable has become a symbol of Australia’s inflation woes, yet its abnormal price has been a by-product of simple supply and demand driven economics.

AUSVEG chair and vegetable grower Bill Bulmer said flooding in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley – where most of the eastern seaboard’s vegetable supply comes from over winter – in February and again in May have wiped out supply for most of Australia, sending prices skywards.

“The humble lettuce has taken a pounding at the moment because of this weather pattern,” he said. “Under normal production, you would probably see lettuce around $2.5 a head in the supermarket. The $12 lettuce is a real extreme.”

But there are many other fruit and vegetables whose prices have jumped more significantly but have not attracted public attention.

Broccoli has risen in-step with iceberg lettuce, with prices up 200 per cent. It’s selling for almost $12/kg.

The price of green beans is up about 150 per cent and gourmet tomatoes about 90 per cent.

Mr Bulmer said prices could all be linked to supply and demand, and severely hampered winter vegetable production in Queensland.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, blueberries were up 375 per cent at the end of May, while strawberries were up 275 per cent.

Berries Australia executive director Rachel Mackenzie said these prices were also a direct result of flooding and wet weather in southern Queensland and northern NSW.

She said any strawberries ending up on shelves were from Western Australia.

“For the WA growers this is a positive turn of events, but for the industry as a whole it’s a challenging time and there’s hopefully Qld supply coming online as the season progresses,” she said, adding storms over Coffs Harbour earlier this year delayed blueberry production there, limiting supply coming into the market now.