Brisbane Market Report 87

A fierce, early October storm in the Bundaberg and Gatton regions has vegetable crops battered and growers slower to harvest in the mud, which could raise prices on some fresh produce sourced from those areas.

However, for this week, an abundance of cheap vegetables is stocked on Your Local Fruit Shop’s shelves including quality Asian vegetables, asparagus, beetroot, cauliflower, capsicum, carrots, eggplant and leeks.

Beans, cabbage, celery, fennel, parsnips, snow peas, silverbeet and mushrooms are selling at reasonable prices.

Queensland onions are looking rough, with the new season crop lacking that smooth, shiny skin that the mature crops yield, but they are fresh at reasonable prices. Brown onions have a stronger flavour than the white varieties while the purple and “salad” onions are much milder.

Squash, sweet corn and potatoes are also at value-for-money prices but are predicted to cost more in the days ahead.

Sweet potatoes are firmly priced and beetroot is expensive.

In the salad aisle, lettuce and mixed leaf salad have been hit hard by the recent storms and although reasonably priced this week, are expected to go up in price.

You can also pick up great value-for-money cucumbers, which are expected to get cheaper, as well as eshallots and most herbs, with the exception of basil which has struggled with the early spring heat.

Tomatoes are cheap and in abundance while the last of the Australian hass avocados and the first of the New Zealand crop are available at top shelf prices.

Mangoes are all the talk at the Brisbane Produce Market with this season’s first symbolic tray of kensington prides being auctioned for $29,000 for charity, although you will pay a lot less for mangoes at Your Local Fruit Shop. The mango prices will be firm for the next couple of weeks until the next big flush are on their way.

The best fruit buys are cheap blueberries or reasonably priced apples, lemons, valencia and blood oranges, kiwifruit, rockmelon, honey dew, pears and pineapples.

Bananas are also value-for-money but their price is expected to rise.

Strawberries are heat and rain affected with the new crop from Stanthorpe expected to arrive from next week to improve the standard on offer.

Watermelons are firmly priced and expected to cost more with the Bundaberg storms affecting crops as the area’s harvest season approaches.

You will also pay firm prices for raspberries, passionfruit, pawpaw and all stonefruit, which are eating well when they are fully ripe, so choose your peaches and nectarines wisely.

Brisbane Produce Market