The fallout from Queensland's rain deluge has seen two prices occurring on a range of fresh produce lines with storm-affected fruits and vegetables cheap, while produce in the same line, grown in the southern states, carries a premium price for premium quality.
In the vegetable aisle, this has placed broccoli and cauliflower at all time low prices for lesser quality produce, and firm to expensive prices for the southern-grown lines.
Eggplant is demanding a much higher price for glamour glasshouse grown quality over field picked crops.
Growers are struggling to enter rain-soaked paddocks to harvest potatoes and sweet potatoes, resulting in less stock arriving and a sharp increase in price to make them expensive.
Only the best sweetcorn and zucchinis are being sent from Queensland growers to the Brisbane Produce Market, with the shorter supply also making prices their highest for some months.
The best buys are Asian vegetables, asparagus, beetroot, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, celery, fennel, leeks, silverbeet and onions, which you will find are quality offerings for a reasonable price.
Expect to pay firm prices for capsicum, parsnips, snow peas, squash and mushrooms, while pumpkin is expected to continue to firm in price in the the days ahead.
In the salad aisle, there are two prices for lettuce with the weather-affected stock at cheap prices but not storing as long as the top quality firmly priced lettuce.
Better prices are being seen in mixed leaf salad, cucumbers, eshallots and most herbs, with the exception of basil that will cost more this week.
Fruit bargain hunters will pick up good quality blood oranges, New Zealand kiwifruit, pears, pineapples, pawpaw and some great tasting mangoes at value-for-money prices.
Berries have been hard hit by weather fluctuations with the Sunshine Coast-grown strawberries cheap and the better quality Stanthorpe varieties costing more per punnet, but eating well.
Raspberries, apples, bananas, lemons, the last of the honey murcott mandarins, navel oranges, USA grown grapes, weather affected rockmelon and honey dew, most watermelon offerings and smaller sized stonefruit are all firmly priced.
Prices are high for limes, passionfruit and the larger size stonefruit.
Source: qt.com.au
