In the four weeks that led up to February 4 2021, the take home fruit category saw a decline of 7.6% in dollar sales, while volume sales went down by -6.5%, when compared to the previous year. ApplesApples saw a huge decrease by 6.3% in dollar sales and 15.4% in volume sales, driven in part by […]

The South Australian government will release close 100 million sterile fruit flies from the sky in an attempt to try and eradicate the pests that are currently harrassing numerous suburbs. The Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) flies will be set free from a low-flying airplane across 11 outbreak areas across metropolitan Adelaide and Renmark. The program, […]

A community in Queensland is on track to become Australia’s most ‘sustainable food city’. It is also ready to feature in a digitally integrated urban horticulture and community composting systems. Yarrabilb, a 2,062-hectare purpose-built town in South East Queensland, and the project, which is being co-ordinated by the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre, started in […]

Trends in Fresh Produce during COVID 19 Total grocery sales reached a three-year high during COVID 19 with fresh categories taking out the top five growth contributors. Grocery was the beneficiary of increased at home consumption to the detriment of food service. Bigger baskets, increased frequency and an increase in the repertoire of shops visited […]

Australian exporters will be aided by a series of government grants to increase online engagement with key overseas markets. This is intended to aid economic recovery from the pandemic. Queensland Premier and Minister for Trade Annastacia Palaszczuk explained the scheme was part of her state’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan. She stated that the COVID-19 impacted the […]

Australian growers that were highly affected by a tropical cyclone Niran. The sufferers are eligible for a $25,000 government grant. The banana growers were severely affected by this. However, the growers are saying that it’s not enough and most importantly not targeted towards the biggest issue facing the industry. The grant is restricted to cover […]

According to latest reports, Australian growers and packers are extremely worried about hiring Pacific Islander seasonal workers. This is mainly done to help fill the labour shortage that has occurred due to the global pandemic. However, the law has now specified that these growers need to be placed in quarantine, adding to the costs of […]

Forecasts show that there is no short term end for Australia’s horticulture labour shortages. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) says while the horticulture industry will suffer significantly from labour shortage, there are some opportunities from high domestic demand. A senior industry economist at ABARES, Charley Xia, told this week’s Outlook […]

Despite the challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the horticulture labour shortage, Australia’s peak berry industry body says there were no decreases in volumes across the different commodities. Moreover, Berries Australia Executive Director Rachel Mackenzie says that compared to the last year, for the quarter ending January 24, blackberries were up 70 per cent, strawberries […]

The European pear market currently appears to be at a minor deadlock. There are talks of a difficult Conference season in the Netherlands. Other classic pear markets, such as Italy and Germany, are also dealing with an increased demand. A greater exception is France, where the pear market is still growing at a steady rate. […]