New Zealand strawberry fear that weather-related shortages could push prices up this Christmas. According to Strawberry Growers New Zealand chairman Anthony Rakich, wet weather damaged strawberry plants and they produced less fruit. “This year has been tough, we had a lot of rain and that affected production. I think we’re going to be in a similar boat to last year where we’re short at Christmas unless the weather does a big U-turn and we get some nice warm days now which is what we need to ripen the fruit.”
“Hopefully there’ll be enough volume that people don’t miss out, but we’re in the lap of the gods as far as the weather’s concerned.”
Stats NZ said strawberries already cost 22 per cent more than they did at this time last year, and 51 per cent more than two years ago.
Source: nzherald.co.nz