NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

Kumara prices soar as harvest drags on because of fewer itinerant pickers in Northland

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
30 Apr, 2018 08:10 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

John Storie, from John's Produce Centre, has noticed more people cutting down on their kumara buying amidst soaring prices. Photo / John Borren

John Storie, from John's Produce Centre, has noticed more people cutting down on their kumara buying amidst soaring prices. Photo / John Borren

Kumara fetching up to $9 a kilogram is a new reality for starchy vegetable fans in the Bay of Plenty, and it is unlikely to end any time soon.

Wet weather and a labour shortage have been blamed for the spike in retail prices.

John Storie, from John's Produce Centre, said there had been a couple of weeks where "we really couldn't get any kumara at all. It seemed a bit odd because a lot of them had already been dug."

However, demand was still there.

"But instead of buying them by the kilo, a lot of people are just buying one or two kumara at a time."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Storie said he was selling kumara for between $5.50 and $8.49 per kilo depending on size and variety. Last year prices reached up to $10 a kilo.

Fresh Market owner David Stewart the industry experienced the same issue last year, "although this time around it's a bit earlier".

"I think it [kumara price] could even get higher by the end of the year," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, Stewart was not too concerned. He said there were always fruit and vegetables up and down in price. While kumara was soaring in price at the moment, pumpkins were among vegetables especially cheap now.

Foodstuffs New Zealand's Antoinette Laird said hot weather made the green plant tops "grow like crazy". When they were dug up, there was not much kumara underneath.

"As a result, it's likely that red kumara will be in short supply all year," she said.

Things are looking slightly better for the orange kumara, she said.

Discover more

New Zealand

Your weather: Time to dry out after sodden few days

30 Apr 05:29 PM

Prices in Pak'nSave and New World stores currently ranged between $7.69 and $7.99 per kilo.

A Countdown spokeswoman said kumara had experienced "a bit of a tough year due to the warm and wet weather" and prices this week were $8.99.

"Unfortunately it's put a lot of pressure on both supply and price. New season kumara is still being harvested at the moment so it's a bit hard to say how the rest of the season is shaping up as we won't really be able to assess the total supply until it's all out of the ground."

Kumara is nearly all harvested in Northland, but the harvest has been delayed due to what grower Grant Suckling said was "the worst labour shortage in 20 years".

Suckling, president of Northern Wairoa Vegetable Growers' Association, said six from his about 30 labourers were backpackers, but he needed eight more.

Regular kumara harvesting ran from early February until around mid-May, but fewer workers meant it could drag out to July.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Learning from the kumara

The kumara is the subject of an ancient Maori proverb warning against self-praise: Kāore te kumara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka, The kumara (sweet potato) does not say how sweet he is.

Source - www.maori.cl

Six fun kumara facts

- Kumara are also known as the sweet potato.

- Most kūmara are grown in Northland in the Northern Wairoa region where soil type and climatic conditions suit kumara perfectly.

- There are different varieties of kumara: gold, red and orange.

- Gold kumara, sometimes sold as Toka Toka, has golden skin and flesh and has a sweeter taste than red.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

- The most common is the red-skinned, Owairaka Red, with a creamy white flesh.

Orange kumara or Beauregard kumara has the sweetest flesh.

Source - www.5aday.co.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Shares

Market close: Tourism Holdings drops as NZ sharemarket ends week on high

04 Jul 06:17 AM
Premium
Business|personal finance

Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

04 Jul 05:00 AM
Construction

'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

04 Jul 04:00 AM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Market close: Tourism Holdings drops as NZ sharemarket ends week on high

Market close: Tourism Holdings drops as NZ sharemarket ends week on high

04 Jul 06:17 AM

The NZ sharemarket bounced back as large-cap stocks balanced gains and losses.

Premium
Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

04 Jul 05:00 AM
'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

04 Jul 04:00 AM
Foodstuffs to open $73m Pt Chevalier store early after Vic Park fire

Foodstuffs to open $73m Pt Chevalier store early after Vic Park fire

04 Jul 03:55 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP