A berry expensive Christmas

If you get a price shock at the strawberry stand this weekend, you can blame the weather – mostly. Demand is soaring and so are supermarket prices.

Countdown said it expected its customers to eat the equivalent of 70 rugby fields’ worth of strawberries this Christmas.

But although you could buy a punnet for $3 on December 14, by this week they were $3.99 at Countdown. Punnets of raspberries cost $5.99 at New World on December 1 but were selling for $9.99 on December 21.

University of Otago associate professor in marketing Robert Aitken said the move was ‘‘absolutely cynical’’ but Ajay Jina, of Jina’s World of Fresh Produce, Lower Hutt, said there were sound reasons for the price rise.

These included increased demand and a wet winter followed by a period of very dry weather. ‘‘Supply is down but there’s the usual Christmas demand so pricing is a bit high.’’

Cherries and blueberries look to have become cheaper – on December 15, blueberries were $3.99 for 125g at Fresh Choice, Ruakaka, and cherries $29.99 a kilogram. This week they were selling for $3 and $15, respectively.

Foodstuffs said the strawberry season was likely to finish earlier than normal but there was a good crop of cherries, nectarines, peaches and blueberries.

Supply is down but there’s the usual Christmas demand so pricing is a bit high.

Ajay Jina Jina’s World of Fresh Produce