Australians can expect to see the price of fruit and vegetables fall within a few weeks, following months of crippling produce prices. Retail expert Gary Mortimer said the end is in sight and the cost of fresh veg including lettuce, capsicum and zucchini, among others, will soon drop back down to more normal price ranges.
"I suspect as we move on to the end of August and September we will start to see those prices fall naturally," Prof Mortimer revealed, attributing part of the reason to the warmer weather.
The sky-high prices we've seen have been attributed to the catastrophic floods we saw in parts of southeast Queensland and northern NSW earlier this year, which wiped out crops and farmland. The impact of flooding influenced the price of lettuce, in particular, with prices rising as high as $11 or $12.
Other leafy vegetables including broccoli and bok choy were also impacted "but we’re now coming out of that," Prof Mortimer explained. Farmers in those regions have now had time to "re-establish those fields" and re-plant seeds to grow new crops.
"It’s been over six months of growing, and we’re starting to warm up now," he said. "Warmer months tend to increase the rate of growth which means we will start to see more products infiltrate into the supermarkets and prices will fall."
Source: au.news.yahoo.com