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Beans, broccoli and tomatoes join iceberg lettuce’s trajectory
Words: Alexandra LaskieProducer: Simone Kealy
A number of fruits and vegetables will join the iceberg lettuce trajectory, as prices increase by a whopping 90-to-200 per cent.
The price of the once-humble lettuce has made headlines after KFC’s shock decision to substitute it for cabbage due to skyrocketing prices.
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.
"Under normal production, you would probably see lettuce around $2.5 a head in the supermarket. The $12 lettuce is a real extreme," he said.
But many other fruits and vegetables have jumped even further in price without attracting 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,” she said.
																																								

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