What’s happening in Berries?

Blueberries – New Zealand Fruit will hit the East Coast major retailers this week, with retailers opening up to New Zealand fruit starting last week in WA. Price has moved up in VIC and QLD whilst NSW will hold for another week as the peak of the VIC/TAS continues production. We expect this to continue for 2-3 more weeks before they move into their Rabbiteye production. 

Strawberries – A slightly elevated price on the East Coast will continue for the next 7-10 days whilst we wait for Victorian volumes to ramp back up. Volumes on the West Coast are also expected to ramp up in February. Hotter conditions for the West Coast are expected to start on Wednesday, building up to Friday and Saturday, where Perth is expected to top out at 39 degrees, and whilst it is usually much cooler down in the Southwest, we are expecting temps up to 37 degrees there as well. 

Raspberries – Raspberries volumes in Tasmania are starting to increase in the coming week, whilst we are still a couple of weeks away in Northern NSW. As noted, by the end of February, we should see production in all growing regions. 

Blackberries – We are currently in the peak week of Blackberries for 2023, and we certainly won’t be achieving the same volume this year. Volumes dropped significantly week on week and were 42% fewer units sold for the same time last year.