"We heart Citrus"
Queensland citrus growers launch Facebook campaign
"It's one of those things, everyone across the North Burnett seems to have really good fruit, so it's all about supply and demand and if we're all packing that amount of fruit at high volume I suppose prices have got to go down," he said.
"We process for three growers and at this stage we're probably about halfway through production of imperials. They're pretty special at the moment. This year in particular we've got really good fruit."
Mr Chambers said hundreds of thousands of mandarins are passing through his shed each day, and if demand doesn't improve, prices will stay low.
His wife Rachel has started a Facebook campaign called "We heart Citrus" which she hopes will encourage consumers to consider the plight of growers.
"We really need to help our farmers shift some fruit, because the farmers have had quite a few bad years and regardless of the quality and quantity of fruit this year, if the consumer doesn't buy it, the farmers doesn't get paid," she said.
"All the farmers were extremely excited about the crop this year. I think the only let down is that, and it sounds bad, everyone has a great crop. Seriously you can't get a bad piece of imperial this year which has left the market a bit low. But we're hoping to change all that."
The page features pictures of growers, their families and their farms, which Mrs Chambers said she hopes will create a relationship between those who eat the fruit, and those who grow it.
Source: abc.net.au
