Vege man Glenn Forysth reveals the best produce to be eating this festive season.
Pavlovas are a Kiwi Christmas classic but they may not have the traditional trimmings this year, with shoppers reporting they can’t find kiwifruit in supermarkets.
One major supermarket chain has advised customers it does not have loose kiwifruit, while a rival chain has loose kiwifruit sourced from foreign orchards sellingat nearly $15/kg.
A shopper contacted the Herald, concerned about a scant supply of the fruit locally.
“I understand that it is out of season, but normally there is end-of-season stock that is held in cool stores.
“My fruit bowl has always had kiwifruit in it – daily (not recently). This will be the first Christmas my fruit salad and pavlova are kiwifruit-less.”
Online searches show loose green kiwifruit is listed as out of stock at Woolworths, while New World is selling Italian-grown kiwifruit at $14.99 per kg.
Kiwifruit is out of stock online at Woolworths. Photo / Screenshot
Michael Franks, CEO of horticulture group Seeka, told the Herald shortages most likely stem from importing issues, because “at this time of the year NZ relies on imported kiwifruit”.
“The New Zealand kiwifruit harvest starts sometime in early March and finishes sometime in early June, so fruit supplied from NZ at this time of the year would be six months old at best and because it’s a perishable, stocks are largely sold out by now.”
A Foodstuffs spokesperson confirmed its supermarkets usually have limited local supply available for Christmas and “this year, the majority of our New Zealand kiwifruit supply finished in early December”.
Tony Ponder, of Southern Produce, has been importing kiwifruit for more than 30 years as part of a 12-month supply strategy.
He says the two-to-three-month gap before early local fruit matures is filled by European kiwifruit but “transit times are up to 60 days and the decision to ship is made ahead of known demand”.
“This year it appears that overall lower volumes have been committed by the various importers and this reflects a moderately supply-constrained situation leading up to Christmas.”
Foodstuffs confirmed “stronger than anticipated customer demand has meant we have sold through this imported supply sooner than expected”.
The supermarket co-operative said a new shipment is arriving this week but is unlikely to reach stores in time for Christmas.
It said recent price increases have been driven by a combination of factors, “including a lighter end-of-season supply of locally grown kiwifruit and the higher costs associated with importing fruit”.
Kiwifruit on sale at New World are from Italy. Photo / Screenshot
