Strawberries are being sold in Australia for staggering prices, with a Canberra supermarket asking $11.99 for a 250g punnet. The same supermarket selling these Victorian-grown punnets was discounting fruit at three for $2 in August last year.
According to Queensland Strawberry Grower's president Adrian Schultz, prices would remain high because wet weather and disease had decimated crops at a time the nation relied on Queensland's winter strawberries.
Berries Australia executive director Rachel Mackenzie said severe weather in key growing regions was behind the steep prices: "Primarily at this time of year, under normal weather conditions, we have quite a high amount of supply coming out of south-east Queensland, that accounts for around 90 percent of the supply."
Source: abc.net.au