Lemons expected next week
Life has slightly given us back our lemons after a nationwide supermarket shortage squeezed supply.
A Countdown spokeswoman said local supply was still extremely limited as lemons were a winter crop. ‘‘We do currently have a mix of local and imported fruit in our stores, however demand is really high, so to help manage this we have temporarily removed lemons from the online store.’’
A shipment of United States lemons was cleared from the Ports of Auckland last week and had been sent out to shops. More imported lemons were expected to arrive early next week from the US, she said.
New World has limited online shoppers of some stores to one lemon per order, and is charging Auckland online shoppers $10 per kilogram while its Hamilton online shoppers are being charged $6 per kilogram.
The next New Zealand harvest of the citrus fruit would be in about two months.
The Countdown spokeswoman said stocks of apples were tailing off as the end of season loomed, but with the new season starting soon, more varieties would be available over the next few weeks. ‘‘The hot dry weather across the country is also having a moderate impact on the availability of lettuce,’’ she said.
Foodstuffs spokeswoman Emma Wooster said it had also noticed varieties of salad staples flying off shelves, including fancy lettuce, cos and spinach.
‘‘The global supply chain continues to be lumpy due to the ongoing knock-on effects of Covid-19, and we expect this to continue throughout 2022,’’ she said. ‘‘If you see a gap on the supermarket shelf, and it’s not currently in season in NZ, it’s likely to have been held up on the boat and will be back on-shelf soon,’’ Wooster said.