RECORD PRICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27514, 7 October 1950, Page 6

RECORD PRICES

Few Onions Left On Market

Efforts made in Christchurch some months ago to obtain onions from Cyprus and Egypt have failed and it is likely that the present shortage of this vegetable will continue. Supplies in Dunedin have almost reached an end and those remaining are selling at record prices. In some markets in Dunedin onions are unobtainable, and where they can be bought the wholesale price is 100 s a bag, against 75s last week. A Dunedin merchant who recently returned from the north told the Daily Times that he heard that in Wellington onions had been sold at £IOO a ton—“a fantastic price.” This price is being paid in Dunedin. Fruit retailers are holding small stocks, _ but there will probably be none left in a week or so. The merchant said that it was now too late to import supplies of onions from California or Japan. . Australia is also suffering from an onion shortage and there is no likelihood of getting any from that source. A spell of good weather will bring on the new season’s onion crop and it is expected that supplies will be on the Dunedin market a few days before Christmas. Before the new seasons supply is available it is almost certain that Dunedin will have to undergo an onion famine.