Supermarket warning: Fruit, veggie prices soar 30% frasercoastchronicle.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from frasercoastchronicle.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fruit and vegetable prices at the checkout will surge up to 30 per cent this year on the back of severe farm labour shortages, according to shocking new figures. The dire warning from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences follows the collapse in the number of overseas workers due to the closed international border. The March quarter horticulture report forecasts the prices of summer vegetables, stone fruit, pome fruit, such as apples and pears, and table grapes will jump 7 to 29 per cent this year before falling again as labour shortages slash production. Products with peak harvest periods from February to April including table grapes are expected to record the highest price rises however customers might not feel the pain until well into autumn .