‘No trouble’ to sell produce

Press, 2 January 1981, Page 4

‘No trouble’ to sell produce

Christchurch marketers and retailers have had no problems selling the fruit and vegetables which were in heavy supply earlier this week. The floors at the two Christchurch markets were cleared on Wednesday and low prices for some produce, generated by the full supply, have encouraged shoppers to buy. “There was certainly a lot of produce at the markets, but we arc not having fouble getting rid of it,” said Mr I. Buchanan, president of the Christchurch Fruit and Vegetable Retailers’ Association. “I have seen worse, and have had to cope with this sor. of thing before. Most retailers are very happy because they are able to pass the low prices on to the consumers,” he said. Some lines of vegetables and stone fruit fetched very low prices, with 4.5 kg cartons of tomatoes selling for as little as 80c. However, market spokesmen and Mr Buchanan emphasised that the lines at the lower end of the price range were generally of poor quality. Top quality tomatoes fetched up to $4 a carton.

The general manager of Macfarlane and Growers, Mr A.. Cahill, said that mild weather and the three-day

week, which had affected the general marketing pattern, had been responsible for the full supply. In addition, this was the time of the year when home gardens were producing and prices were traditionally low. However, there had not been an oversupply at the market because the only produce available on the floor by 11 a.m. on Wednesday had been stock such as bananas and imported oranges, which .were controlled. Hundreds of cartons of ripening tomatoes were eagerly snapped up by Dunedin people on Wednesday morning, the Press Association reports.

Queues had formed outside the building of Lovell Riley, Ltd, by 7 a.m., two hours before it was due to open officially to the public, and a crowd of about 1000 people jammed into the building for two hours to clear the halls of all stock. At the height of the crowd, two traffic officers had to be called in to help control the scores of cars which thronged Midland Street, and parks were unobtainable within half a mile of the building. The rush on produce began when it was reported that one of the biggest surpluses of fruit and vegetables Otago had seen led to rock bottom prices being asked for almost all items. Tomatoes were the biggest problem for auctioneers because the onset of fine weather had caused a sudden ripening, leading to a glut on the market. Although prices on Wednesday were slightly higher! than those on tbe previous! day, a carton of tomatoes! sold for $2 to $3, while cherries sold for $4.50 to $7. 1