Australia: orange prices to soar

Bad weather is set to affect the price of oranges after already crippling Australia's banana industry. The worst frost in 24 years has destroyed 40,000 tonnes - about 25 per cent - of the citrus fruit produced in southern Australia.

"They won't hit skyrocketing prices of bananas but there will be some price hike due to the reduction of fruit on the market," Riverina Citrus CEO Peter Morrish said. Bananas rose from $2/kg to more than $11/kg after the crop was devastated by Cyclone Larry in March. Oranges currently sell for $2.50kg, with experts predicting rises of at least $1/kg.

The frosts are yet another a bitter blow for orange growers who had to dump tonnes of produce earlier this year -- some of it ending up in cattle feed lots -- because they were locked out of China, a key export market. The crisis is forcing growers off the land or making them look for a second job to make up for their farming loss.

While oranges won't hit the skyrocketing price of bananas, experts predict consumers will pay more for this seasons crops. Mr Morrish said the worst frost affected districts were in South Australia and Victoria as well as some pockets in the Riverina. "We had too many, now there are too less. It's a vicious cycle, farmers just can't seem to get ahead," he said.

It has been months since cyclone Larry wiped out north Queensland's bananas plantations, 93 per cent of the production in Australian, but the crisis is still being felt. With boxes of the staple Australian fruit still selling for $120 compared to less than $20 before the cyclone, many Sydney cafes and restaurants are refusing to use bananas in dishes despite its inclusion on many menus.

Some have even turned to banana syrup in their juice. For the Surfeit cafe in Cronulla they had no other option to replace bananas smoothie, a popular drink on the menu, with other fruit smoothies. "The prices of bananas were just too high we couldn't afford to keep it in stock," cafe worker Jodie Lee said.

Fruit juice chain Boost Juice has also been forced to replace fresh produce with imported puree. "We have experienced some shortages in some store as supply has been inconsistent across Australia since the cyclone hit," a Boost spokesman said. "We made a decision not to increase our prices despite the cost of bananas going through the roof." Banana prices are expected to remain high until Christmas.

"We are finding anecdotal evidence that businesses across Australia are dropping bananas from the menu," Australian Bananas Growers Council CEO Tony Heidrich said. "This is dangerous for the industry because when prices fall back to normal we will have to do some serious campaigning to get those back who have substituted the fruit for something else." Production has dropped from 400,000 cartons a week to 20,000.

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