Simple trick to save on fruit and veges
It’s easy to look at the price of a cucumber right now and be outraged at the fact it’s past the $6 mark.
But independent freshproduce supplier Ajay Jina is encouraging consumers to look beyond the high prices of out-of-season fruit and vegetables, and consider the good value still available.
‘‘We’ve got a lot of products in New Zealand that are still good value and pricing,’’ he said.
Buying fruit and vegetables that were in season was one of the easiest ways to save money at the checkout – but few people knew how to do it, Jina said.
‘‘And the more you understand the seasons, the more you will understand why things evolve in their prices.’’
The Five Plus a Day website showed all the fruit and vegetables that were currently in season, he said.
Leeks, brussels sprouts, broccoli, kumara, apples, kiwifruits, courgettes, green beans and mandarins were all in season right now, while cucumbers, lettuce, capsicum, avocados and berries were all out of season.
Cucumber and capsicums were more than $5 respectively at the moment, and this was because they were a summer product. And despite being grown in New Zealand all year round, they needed heating and warmth to grow, which was where the cost came from, Jina said.
But despite being in season, courgettes and green beans were more expensive than usual, and also hard to get your hands on. A kilogram of courgettes at New World was $17.99, and $14.99 at Pak‘n Save, while at Countdown they were unavailable.
This was because there were only a few growers in New Zealand, and most courgettes were coming from Australia, Jina said.
Supply and demand had really begun to control the price of produce following the pandemic, he said.
If a product was in season and there was lots of supply, prices would usually stay low, and conversely if there was less supply, and it was out of season, prices went up.