Cheap punnets a sweet bargain
WHETHER you like strawberries with ice cream, in fruit salad or on pavlova, now is the time to sink your teeth into the sweet fruit.
A strawberry glut means some Ipswich fruit shops are selling punnets for less than a dollar each.
Yamanto Country Market owner Eddie Habchi said his fruit shop was currently selling punnets for 89 cents each.
"Prices started to fall later in the season, just after the Ekka," Mr Habchi said.
"It's been dry so there's a lot of good strawberries, where in previous years two-thirds of a strawberry crop might have been wiped out by rain."
Mr Habchi said strawberries were proving a hit at his shop.
"Probably price is a factor, but strawberries are a sweet fruit and customers have been able to treat themselves to them a bit more."
But the oversupply has hit growers hard, Queensland Strawberry Growers Association president Bill Sharpe said.
"It's good they're selling, but it's a real shame about the price," Mr Sharpe said.
He likened the prime growing conditions to a "perfect storm".
"This is the perfect weather; I've been in the business for years and we haven't seen anything like it," Mr Sharpe said.
"The good thing about shops is they are selling them, probably without making that much of a profit," Mr Sharpe said.
"If we can clear the backlog of berries we might be able to get to a reasonable price where everyone is happy, including the growers, retailers and customers."
Mr Habchi said the strawberry season could last up to eight more weeks, with prices affected by weather.
"If it's fine, the punnets will continue to come in, but if it rains tomorrow prices will go up and the season might be reduced."
Mr Sharpe said growers may be more conservative when planting crops next year.
"I think growers will have a re-think of how many plants they're going to put in," he said.
"They're a very costly crop and growers have certainly been hurt financially this year."
TOP CROP
- 33% of Australian strawberries are grown in Queensland, making the state the biggest producer.
- The Queensland strawberry season runs from June to October, according to Strawberries Australia Inc.
- Australian growers plant 35 million bushes a year, and each bush can produce four punnets of berries.
