Strawberries on sale for $7 a punnet - are supermarkets putting prices up ahead of Christmas?

Would you pay $7 for 7 strawberries?

They’re a Kiwi Christmas staple, but strawberry prices have gone up ahead of December 25, and it might have you rethinking your festive dessert plans.

Thanks to inflation, fresh fruit and vegetables have been one of the costlier items on our shopping lists this year, though prices fell 3.9 per cent in September, according to Stats NZ data. But in the weeks leading up to Christmas, fresh berries tend to get even more expensive at the supermarket.

This week, the Herald spotted a 250g punnet of strawberries - about 7 individual berries - on sale at Countdown for $7.

So, how much have prices gone up in December? And how much would you pay to have strawberries on your pav this Christmas?

Strawberries on sale at Countdown for $7 a 250g punnet. Photo / NZ Herald

How much have strawberry prices gone up?

We’ve been keeping an eye on strawberry prices since the beginning of December, when they ranged from reasonable — the average supermarket price sitting at around $5 for a 250g punnet — to as much as $12 for 250g.

At a central Auckland Countdown, 250g punnets were going for $5 each — $3.40 for a punnet if you opted for their Odd Bunch range — while over at New World, a 250g punnet cost $4.99, and we spotted a 250g pack for $3.99 at a New World Metro. At one Auckland New World store, a Herald team member spotted 250g on sale for $12.

At Pak’nSave, a 250g punnet would set you back $5, while over at specialty grocery store Farro, a kilogram of strawberries would set you back a whopping $27.99 — or $6.99 per 250g.

Strawberries on sale for $27.99 for 1kg at Farro. Photo / NZ Herald

And at a Four Square in central Auckland, 250g of strawberries were on special for $3.99.

We also came across a roadside stall in Auckland’s North Shore, selling three 250g punnets for $10, and 2 for $7 — undoubtedly the most inexpensive option so far.

So, how much do strawberries cost right now?

They’re $7 a punnet at Countdown, while NZ-grown berries will cost you $5.99 for 250g at New World - $6.99 for imported strawberries.

Meanwhile at Pak’NSave, they’re on sale for $5.99 per 250g punnet. The roadside stall had raised prices slightly to $8 for 2 punnets.

A roadside stall in Auckland's North Shore selling 2 punnets of strawberries for $8. Photo / NZ Herald

Asked if Countdown had put prices up, a Woolworths New Zealand spokesperson told the Herald the price increase was due to both high demand and short supply.

“Growers would be best to talk to the conditions they’re seeing, but from our end we’re seeing very high demand and we’ve also passed the peak of outdoor-grown strawberry season which means supply is reduced,” they said.

“There are good seasonal alternatives for Christmas desserts like fresh blueberries and tinned or frozen options are also great options.”

Head of produce and butchery for Foodstuffs North Island - owner of New World, Pak’NSave and Four Square - Brigit Corson said the strawberry season was “winding down” in the week before Christmas.

“This year, growers have had 25 per cent fewer strawberry plants in the ground and the price of fresh produce will always be impacted by supply and demand - when supply is low the prices are higher,” Corson said.

She also pointed shoppers to blueberries, stone fruit and cherries instead.

Are strawberries more expensive than normal this year?

After a year of bad weather and an unexpected shortage of strawberry plants, growers experienced a tougher season than normal in 2023.

In June, it was reported that severe weather in Bay of Plenty meant the country’s supply of strawberry plants was down by a third — last year, 13.5 million plants were sold, while this year it was estimated only 9 million were available to commercial and home growers.

Kaihoke Berries general manager Todd Jackson told the Northern Advocate in September that because of the shortage, fewer strawberries would be available this summer, so prices would go up.

“I think if everyone’s prepared to dip into their pockets, you’ll definitely have a strawberry or two,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that the price of strawberries is going to increase this year. That’s just supply and demand.”

In early December, Strawberry Growers NZ manager Sally King told the Herald that despite the shortage of plants, the season was “going well” so far.

“It has been quite cool so that means we have fewer fruit at the moment, so perhaps a little firmer in price. We get bigger volumes very soon and supply and demand drives price.

“The first flush of strawberries is over by mid-December,” she explains.

“So the supply is a little tighter on Christmas week, but there are always some strawberries to be found for the Christmas pavlova.”

King notes it’s supermarkets and retailers that determine the price shoppers pay at the checkout, not the growers themselves, and there’s no set wholesale cost as there are “a variety of ways” that growers sell to supermarkets.

In September, a new grocery code of conduct came into effect, aiming to make things fairer for suppliers following the Commerce Commission’s report into the supermarket duopoly — meaning suppliers or retailers like supermarkets “can’t increase their prices willy-nilly”, Sasha Borissenko wrote for the Herald at the time.

But as prices go up in the days before Christmas, you might have to swap the strawberries for another summer fruit on top of your pav on December 25.