Blueberries—Volume has dropped back slightly this week, but demand has remained stable. With Victoria and Tasmania slowing down, we have seen price increases week on week, and it’s likely that we will see another increase in at least one state as retailers try to find the balance of volume and demand; New Zealand supply is consistent but will also start to drop over the coming weeks. 

Strawberries – Volume into retail has increased week on week. There are some tough conditions in Victoria this week, with temps hitting 38 degrees on Saturday, and we are expecting 36 degrees today in the Yarra Valley; this will come back to 27 tomorrow, and by end of the week, it will be under 10 degrees at night. This makes for difficult growing conditions. Retailers are continuing to really focus on quality across all DCs in all states as the Strawberries is one of the lines that received the most complaints in stores (returns and markdowns). Good growing conditions are expected to continue in southwest WA with moderate days and minimum temps in the low teens, even lower in some locations. The QLD growing region of Stanthorpe is expecting better conditions this week after a hot and relentless start to the month, with every day over 30 (or close to). 

Raspberries—Volumes in VIC and Northern NSW continue to increase. Last week, we saw the highest volumes since mid-January, and within four weeks, we expect to see large quantities coming out of SEQ and Northern NSW. Quality has been pretty good so far across the board. 

Blackberries—Finally, the jump we had been expecting over the last few weeks has arrived. We are seeing a significant jump week on week, and we expect this to increase even further in the short term before settling down in mid-to late April. Quality across the board for Blackberries seems to be reasonably good.