The wholesale price for salads and soft cooked vegetables has dropped significantly throughout December according to the latest Veginsights consumer and market report, following the trend from November further down and creating considerable Christmas time bargains for consumers, particularly in the eastern states of Australia.
The most significant moves in product wholesale prices in December were decreases of 91% in sweet corn, 41% in lettuce, 29% in capsicums and 20% in salad mixes.
AUSVEG spokesperson Andrew White said that wholesale vegetable prices were a good indicator of retail prices, providing they were passed on to the consumer.
“These low prices may represent good buying opportunities for consumers in the eastern states in products like sweet corn and capsicums, which have dropped substantially in December, as well as lettuce and salad mixes, which are always extremely popular over the summer months and are currently much more affordable than they were a few weeks ago.”
The December outcome reflects an overall decline across the vegetable category back to lower September prices Veginsights reveals, with earlier November results also showing reductions, including an 87 per cent drop in the price of beans, 55 per cent fall in broccoli prices, and a 45 per cent drop in lettuce prices.
“Normal seasonal trends would see consumers buying more salad products over the summer period, while sales of hard cooked vegetables generally drop. We’ve seen that summer demand for salad components has been firm, while the recent cold snap has heightened demand for soft cooked vegetables,” Mr White said.
AUSVEG is the National Peak Industry Body representing around 7,000 vegetable growers.
Mr White said that wholesale prices for salad components had led the downward trend, decreasing by 18.5 per cent, while seasonings and soft cooked veg both fell by 2.1 per cent. The only category level to increase was hard cooked veg which lifted by a 1.5 per cent.
“Current prices represent a terrific buying opportunity for price conscious consumers in the lead up to the New Year.
AUSVEG is encouraging consumers to take advantage of lower prices for specific commodities like sweet corn, broccoli, beans, broccoli, and lettuce mixes.”
Meanwhile, Mr White said that consumers should be mindful that the recent heavy rainfall in many growing regions may see some loss of quality and appearance at the retail level.
“It’s more important than ever to support our farmers right now, particular given the harsh weather conditions they’ve had to confront recently. In WA, growers have been affected by disastrous floods. Affordable pricing makes this an easy choice for consumers to buy Australian grown.”
The Veginsights report was produced by market analysis and consulting firm Freshlogic, funded by the National Vegetable Levy with matched funds from the Australia Government.
MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew White, Manager-VIDP Communications, AUSVEG
Phone: (03) 9822 0388, Email: andrew.white@ausveg.com.au, Mobile: 0409 989 575