Strawberries may be off the menu at Christmas this year thanks to a shortage of the Kiwi summer staple.
Rising costs, labour shortages and unusual weather has forced some growers to cut production by up to 50%.
“All of our material costs, labour costs – everything has gone up. Our fertiliser, which is a big component in our growing operation, has gone up by 300-400%,” Good Planet strawberry grower Boman Zakeri said.
They’ve been forced to cut production by 30%.
Growers are also facing labour shortages, with some operating with less than half of their usual workforce.
“Three years ago, I was probably running between 130 and 140 a day, and that’s a picking team of about 80,” Strawberry Gardens’ Phil Greig said.
“Now I’m down to about 30. The people are just not wanting to work.”
The labour shortages have meant there are fewer berries for sale, driving up the cost.
Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the price hike is not unexpected.
“Everybody who's shopping at the moment knows that things are more expensive and there's a whole lot of pressures on suppliers and retailers at the moment which means prices are high,” he said.
Greig said fresh fruit “will never be cheap again”.
“It just can't because no one can sustain it.”
More than half of the country’s strawberries are grown in Auckland due to its warm climate, soil type and proximity to key markets. But sunny days have been few and far between this summer, making it an extremely tough season.
“We've had wet Novembers but never in December, but never to this scale. It’s probably a one in 30-year event,” Zakeri said.
“We're running even 50% lower than I expected to pick at this time of year. It’s just because it's been so dull, there just hasn’t been the flower out there,” Grieg added.
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