Tomatoes NZ is looking for feedback from growers about the issues they're facing, intent on showing both the government and consumers how expensive and hard it's become to grow the fruit. That is why the industry group is getting feedback from growers. It highlights the main issues growers are having, such as rising energy and production costs, labor shortages, and biosecurity incursions.
The cost of energy used to heat glasshouses had skyrocketed, with coal between 45 and 65% higher in price and gas up 50%. Sourcing labor is also still challenging, the document said. Tomato growing businesses were operating with 40-60% of employee numbers due to the effects of Covid-19 and border restrictions.
Tomatoes NZ chair Barry O'Neil said the group was constantly hearing about high prices from the media and the public, yet growers were not seeing the high prices due to increased costs.
Source: 1news.co.nz