The price of lettuce soon won’t be the only thing shoppers are complaining about. Aussies have been warned to prepare for shortages of another common veggie.
The price of lettuce has skyrocketed so high that in some parts of the country supermarkets are charging as much as $12 as Australia continues to deal with fresh produce shortages.
Bill Bulmer, Victorian lettuce grower and chair of the industry body for the Australian vegetable producers, AUSVEG, shared that the prices won’t be going down anytime soon, sharing Aussies can expect to see shortages of lettuce, capsicum and spinach to continue for at least the next three months.
Onions are next to join them on the chopping block.
“Then, probably, the looming shortage coming into spring is going to be onions,” he said.
Just like we have seen with lettuce, a shortage of onions is set to send prices for the vegetable soaring.
Woolworths has also advised customers it is experiencing a slight disruption with some other vegetables including Lebanese cucumbers, kale, fresh herbs, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, capsicum, berries, broccoli and spinach.
Mr Bulmer explained that the devastating floods in Queensland was the main driver of these shortages, wiping out about 80% of lettuce crops.
“We have been pounded by La Nina in the last 12 months. The major growing region of Australia for lettuce this time of year is out of Brisbane in the Gatton region and they have been impacted by floods in February as well as in May,” he said.
The AUSVEG chair said he wouldn’t even bother buying a lettuce in the supermarket at the moment because of how much prices have risen.
“There are pockets of lettuces here and there across Australia but, as I said, the bulk comes out of the Gatton region this time of the year.”
Image: Getty
