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MIchelle Wi started work on developing Te Kuiti's MKR Garden during the coronavirus lockdown.
Stalled production during the Covid-19 lockdown and wet weather have led to a national shortage of spinach and lettuce.
“The lockdown put a spanner in the works. Growers basically stopped planting at their end, but since things fired up again in June everyone’s short,” Fresh Direct Christchurch market manager Neil Beri said.
“Growers are working at 100 miles an hour to get things back on track.”
Prices were holding stable for now, he said.
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“Growers are anticipating getting back on track this week, as it’s expected to be quite dry.”
Beri said most leafy vegetables were affected by the wet weather as they all grew in similar conditions.
A spokeswoman for Foodstuffs, which owns New World, Pak’n Save and Four Square, said that although lettuce and spinach were still available in stores they were in short supply because of a recent run of poor weather.
A Countdown spokeswoman said the supermarket was working closely with growers around the country to manage the impact of the recent heavy rain in the North Island on spinach and rocket.
“Fruit and veges are really susceptible to weather, as you’d expect, and there are a range of weather factors that can impact both the price and availability of produce … This week we have a lot of broccoli, silverbeet and bok choy,” the Countdown spokeswoman said.
Spinach was out of stock at a number Countdown and New World supermarkets, including on both chains’ online shopping websites.
On Pak’n Save’s website a 120-gram packet of baby spinach cost $3.50.
Lettuce cost about $3.50 per head across the major supermarkets.
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Spinach production has been affected by recent wet weather and the Covid-19 lockdown.
Jina's World of Produce managing director Ajay Jina said typical winter crops, such as potatoes, parsnips, onions and carrots, were cheaper this time of year.
“This time of year any leafy green gets affected by the weather,” Jina said.
While Stats NZ did not collect data on spinach prices, its price index showed lettuce prices rose 74 cents to $4.73 in June compared with the same time last year.
The price index for July will be available later this month.
Overall vegetable prices were up 7.6 per cent in June, also influenced by seasonally higher prices for tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and courgettes.
Courgette prices jumped 74 per cent to an all-time high of $21.42 per kilogram in June, as imports from Queensland were barred because of Covid-19.
Stuff
August 03, 2020 at 06:37AM
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Supermarkets run out of spinach due to nationwide shortage - Stuff.co.nz
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