Fruit and vegetables

Press, 27 February 1981, Page 2

Fruit and vegetables

Strikes halt export of stone fruit

The halting of most Tasman flights and Cook Strait ferry sailings by industrial action has resulted in much high-quality. export-grade stone and berry’ fruit being' off-loaded in the Christ-; church market this week. ! Trays of nectarines in-j tended for export to Austra!ia and Singapore' fetched high prices yesterday mornntr Th<* fruit had been held

in cool stores for up to a week, waiting for an end to the industrial stoppages. But it will not keep for too long, i even under refrigeration, so ■ the exporters decided to cut their losses and release it on the local market. The nectarines come from . Central Otago. , ( -Both the growers and exporters will suffer financially because of the loss of the export ■ trade. 1

When the Tasman air link returns to normal there will be enough nectarines and other export-quality fruit to fill two or three air-freight lockers.

The trays of export-quali-ty nectarines sold yesterday for about $5 while ordinary nectarines sold for about. $3 a tray.

Apricots . from Central Otago bound for Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, and Wellington by rail were off-loaded in Christchurch yesterday morning after .the Railways refused to accept perishable goods. With the Cook Strait ferries not sailing it would have been im--possible to transport the apricots north by rail. The strike-bound apricots sold for up to $10.20 a halfcase, while ordinary apricots intended f o r the Christchurch market sold for about $7 a half-case. North-bound strawberries were also held up by the industrial action and they were also released in the •local market at competitive prices, selling for 30c to 80c a punnet.

The release of the extra stone fruit in the local market, combined with an already abundant local supply, has led to plentiful supplies of'fruit at all retail outlets, with a range of quality and prices not usually available. The high-quality fruit, though, is far from cheap. . Freestone peaches for bottling sold for $2.50 to $5.50 a half-case and for $2 to $3.50 a tray for better qualitty eating fruit. Bananas, from the Pacific Islands and from Ecuador,

are plentiful resulting in a promotional campaign to encourage people to buy them'-.Many retailers are giving away leaflets describing several recipes for banana deserts. Island bananas which ripen more quickly and are tastier than Ecuadorean bananas, sold for a set price of $15.05 a case while Ecuadorean bananas were $14.20 a case.

Bon Chretien pears were $7.50 a case. Apples, which sold at set prices, are now well into the season with the first of the Cox’s Orange variety coming in to the market yesterday. With the arrival of rain and cooler weather this week all vegetables are in plentiful supply except for cabbages, which have been in heavier demand this week and have consequently' risen slightly in price. Yesterday they sold for $2.30 to $3.5C for a bag of eight.

. (Cauliflowers have come down in price in the last two weeks and kre now $3 to $6.50 a bag. $

Green beans, runnei beans, and butter beans are now at the height of their season and are plentiful selling for between $1.2( and $6 a case. Brussels sprouts are still earlv in their season and have yet to start goim down ' in price. They sold for $B.BO to $ll.BO an Bka bag. Leeks are ;glso in their early days an<r were quitt expensive at hbout $8 a case. ,• Radishes, spring onions, parsley, .1 celery .and courgettes'. arefalUpleritiful. Courgettes sold cheaply at SLS( to $4 a . half-case and would be ripe for freezing. Slice blanch them in boiling water before freezing in meal-sized bag lots. • ‘ . . Tomatoes were down tr price now that the season for outdoor-grown fruit if well under way. They were as low as $1 to $3 for a 4.5 kg carton. Hot-house tomatoes were up to $4.50 a carton. The first of the local black-soil Chippewa potatoes arrived in the market yesterday and were in good demand at $5.50 a bag. Ham Hardy potatoes were up to $2.50 a bag.

This week’s, recipe INSTANT BANANA PUDDING Six bananas. J cup cinnamon-sugar. 2 tablespoons butter. Method: Slice bananas lengthwise and place in butt e r e d casserole dish Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar and dot with butter. If desired, a half-cup of orange juice may be poured over. Bake for about 25 minutes in moderate oven (350 deg. F.) and serve with custard. Serves ' three oi four.