Vegetables dearer; growers pleased

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34129, 15 April 1976, Page 12

Vegetables dearer; growers pleased

(By.

TERRY McGOVERNE)

The long-awaited rise in the price of green vegetables on the Christchurch market this week has been good news for growers.

The better prices, particularly for cabbages, came after about two months of consistently low prices which made the cutting, packing, and carting of them to the markets almost disastrous. Retailers were also pleased about the increase in price. One retailer was at pains to point out to “The Press” yesterday that giveaway prices on the market floor were in fact bad for business, misleading to the

public, and no advantage to anyone. The retailer said he was getting cross looks from housewives who came into his shop asking for cabbages which “The Press” had reported selling at 4c each on the market floor. He said it was obvious that people who read the market report looked only to the lowest price paid and expected that to apply to every cabbage. When housewives saw 20c appended to the cabbage in the shop they believed they were being taken for a ride.

The major obstructions to passing on glut prices to the housewife, according to the retailer, are the cost of transport and labour in shops.

The high cost of getting produce from the markets to the shops are widely known and retailers claim to be paying about $2 an hour for hired staff. If the costs are as high as the retailer says, and tney appear to be, then the mark-up on cabbages or any other produce has to be considerable to produce even a small profit to the retailer. Neither very low prices nor high ones help anyone in the industry. The medium price in the market floor is the one which keeps all parties happy. For the budget-conscious mother buying for a family, the answer is to continue shopping around without running up a petrol bill. Some growers who sell produce at the gate speak of people who waste gallons of petrol every week-end racing from one place to another trying to buy sweet corn or apples or other seasonal purchases at 1c cheaper. At present, housewives have the opportunity of buying potatoes at very reasonable prices and substituting them where possible for bread, which is at least twice the price. In bulk lots potatoes are cheaper now than any time in the last three years and may be bought by the sugar bag for anything from $1.50 to $2.50. Market authorities say that people would do the

fresh vegetable industry a great service if they ate more potatoes to take care of the exceptional yields. Cabbage prices this week were nine times higher than last week and sold yesterday at up to $2.80 a bag of eight. Supplies were down but there are still many cabbages to come. Cauliflowers yesterday were cheaper than cabbages, something which has rarely occurred in recent months. They sold yesterday at $1.90 for a bag of eight compared with $2 on Tuesday. Brussells sprouts were down to 30c per lb yesterday and all root crops were easier with carrots bringing up to $l.BO for a 401 b bag, as against $2.50 on Tuesday. Parsnips also dropped to $2.50 a bag after fetching $3.50 on Tuesday. A line of fresh peas from Blenheim sold quickly yesterday at 23c per lb, and silver beet ranged from 60c to $2 a case. The variation there was due to the disparity in the quality of the produce. Celery fetched up to 50c a stick, and lettuce fetched an average of about 60c a case of eight. There was considerable interest in strawberries and raspberries which growers had held back until yesterday to catch the Easter market. At 55c a punnet for the raspberries and up to 60c a punnet for the strawberries the price was not outrageous. Tomatoes were not in such heavy demand yesterday and slipped by about 10c per lb ranging in price from 15c per lb for sauce to 60c per lb for table.

Christchurch retailers said yesterday that berry fruits were selling well now that they had dropped in price. Strawberries are now retailing for about 70c a punnet, and raspberries for 75c a punnet. Cabbages are about 25c each, cauliflowers are 35c each, and Brussels sprouts are retailing from 40c to 49c per lb. Lettuces are 20c each and sweet corn is selling for about 16c a cob. Silver beet and parsnips are about 20c per lb, celery is 35c per lb, and carrots and potatoes are 10c per lb. Green peas are retailing between 22c and 40c per lb and eating applies are 20c per lb. Most shops are selling only high quality tomatoes at the moment and these are priced at about 801? per lb.