"High tomato prices in Australia should halve by July"
Typically at this time of year, field tomato growers around Bundaberg and Stanthorpe, some of the largest national suppliers of tomatoes, hand over the supply reins to their northern counterparts in Bowen. But Cyclone Debbie has caused a break in the chain.
"Normally you would have our southern regions pump out good volume so even though we hadn't started it wouldn't matter too much but because the southern regions got knocked around as well it caused a massive supply problem," Bowen Gumlu Growers Association president Carl Walker said.
He said the market price for field-grown tomatoes on Tuesday was sitting around the $8-$10 mark across the east coast, which he described as "nuts".
But it is not all doom and gloom, Mr Walker said. "In the next week to 10 days, the three big growers will be coming back online so within two weeks you should see the price on the shelves, I would expect that to halve."
Source: smh.com.au