The price of veggies is tumbling after hitting record highs in the last two years.
Extreme weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle wiped out many crops, but the recovery is underway, says United Fresh President Jerry Prendergast.
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
“After those tremendous events that we had at the beginning of last year, once we hit winter, it was relatively kind for growing.
“You weren't getting big washouts, you were able to get good plantings in the ground, you were able to get your root crops in once we headed into spring, and the yield that started to come as a result of that, on not only leafy greens, but other crops as well, even hothouse crops have been phenomenal,” he told Jesse Mulligan.
Statistics New Zealand said in February veggies were 9.3 percent down on the same time last year, but that’s not the whole story, Prendergast says, pointing out that leafy greens have dropped significantly in price.
“Everything from broccoli, cabbage, cauli, lettuce, fancy lettuce, silver beets, spinach, spring onions, for example, right across that range.
"They're about 22 percent down in value when you look at them across that range.”
Broccoli is 40 percent down, he says, while lettuce in February was 37 percent down and tomatoes a whopping 57 percent down on last year.
Growing conditions have been near perfect, he says.
“Just enough rain at the right time, good light levels and that's produced some exceptionally low value fruits and vegetables.
"It is right now the time for consumers to be thinking about buying more produce and they will be able to save on their weekly budget.”
Kumara is one to look out for, he says,
“We've gone from this time last year around about that $13 a kilo when the weather wiped out virtually 80 percent of the crop of last year, whereas this year, they're already around about $5 a kilo.”
Apples are peak season at the moment and good value, he says
“You'll buy apples for between $3 and $5 a kilo depending on where you are.”
It's been an “absolutely stunning” season for watermelons, too.
“Dry conditions up north dry conditions for some of those big growers and Gisborne and Pukekohe and it produced some exceptionally good value watermelon.”
Pumpkins are still pricey, but not quite in season, he says.
“You're right on the cusp, the season's just getting underway, you'll find that all pumpkins are going to be declining in value compared to where they were.”
