All over for strawberries

Warm nights have ended the strawberry glut. Photo / Jason Dorday

Just a couple of weeks ago they were everywhere - rock-bottom, roadside bargains indicative of a bumper strawberry crop.

But last week there was scarcely a chip to be found at many Auckland supermarkets as the heatwave ended the season early.

While there were still a few punnets at smaller outlets, the final fruits of the harvest looked tiny compared with the luscious berries available before Christmas.

Malcolm McLean, business manager produce at Progressive Enterprises, which owns Foodtown and Woolworths, said there were not enough berries left to supply all stores nationwide.

And growers contacted by the Herald on Sunday said they were starting to pull up dead plants.

Massey Gardens and Orchard co-owner Maree Marinovic said the Auckland business had stopped packing and today was the last opportunity for families to try "picking their own" before the place closed, a week earlier than usual.

"It's just too hot for the strawberries. These hot nights are killing them. It's all over, Rover. It's not commercially viable to keep going - the quality is certainly not what it was."

Marinovic said that until two years ago, close to 70 per cent of the New Zealand crop was exported.

Now, because of the high New Zealand dollar, only about 10 per cent went overseas.

"Which is why they have been a lot cheaper and a lot more abundant."

If you wanted fresh berries until March, the answer was to head south, said Chantelle Klasema, of The Strawberry Patch in Havelock North.

Although the farm's pick-your-own operation was "temporarily closed" and the store was no longer selling large punnets because of a shortage of fruit, the season would continue until the end of March, a fortnight later than usual.