Actualidad nacional e internacional
May. 24, 2022![](https://chilealimentos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Frozen_berries_NZ_699px.jpg)
Nueva Zelanda: Retrasos de embarques provocan alzas de precios en berries congelados para retail
A challenging season, wildfires and shipping costs have squeezed the price of frozen berries up at the supermarket
The price of a 500g bag of Countdown frozen raspberries was $5, the cheapest in the supermarket, last year.
The berries briefly disappeared from the shelves, returning at $7 as inflation began to rise. Now they are selling for $10.10 a bag.
Countdown’s organic brand, Macro Wholefoods, was selling raspberries for more than $13.
At New World, the Pams house brand was $6.50 for a 500 gram of mixed berries and $9.19 for 1kg in the South Island. In the North Island it was $6.99 for 500g and $10.79 for 1kg.
A 1kg bag of Sujon Raspberries cost $21.69.
Prices at Pak ‘n Save ranged from $5.50 for a 500g bag of mixed berries to $13.99 for 1.8kg.
Most brands of frozen berries are sourced from Chile.
A Countdown spokesperson said food price increases were to be expected, given the rising costs and inflationary pressures on its growers and producers.
“Our frozen raspberry, blackberry and boysenberry suppliers are also experiencing very high demand for their products. Due to a poor harvest in the United States and Europe, this demand means there’s more pressure on the South American supply, which is where we source our raspberries from.”
New Zealand frozen berry producer, Orchard Gold, kept berry prices stable over the past two years, at about $8 for a 500g bag.
But director Jason Foord said the company was not turning a profit because of rising costs.
He said imported fruit over the past two years had increased in price, with raspberries up 80%, blackberries up 177%, blueberries up 56% and strawberries up 21%.
Locally supplied fruit was up 46% for blackcurrants, while boysenberries were up 22% and blackberries up 10%.
Foord said the cost of raspberries had become so expensive he had put the sale of 500g bags of raspberries on hold until prices reduced.
“If the prices come back to Earth then we would, of course, want to supply them again. They are very popular,” he said.
The cost of getting a shipping container from Chile to NZ had doubled over the past two years.
“And that is if you can even get on a ship, which is no longer a certainty,” he said.
Foord said port congestion and shipping delays meant it could take up to six month to get stock that usually took three weeks.
Some ports, including Ports of Auckland, charged a congestion fee, he said. “That is right, we get charged if they are congested.”
The Matariki public holiday, minimum wage increase, rising cost of electricity and local freight costs, had affected costs too, he said
These issues had lead to the end of the just-in-time business model, and Orchard Gold was instead operating a just-in-case (model.
Under the just-in-time model the manufacturer has complete control over the process and works on a demand basis, with the ability to quickly increasing production. Whereas under the just-in-case model businesses order more than they need, or produce more products than they expect to sell.
“This means companies are having to invest a great deal more in stock to make sure they can supply their customers,” Foord said.
It was likely Orchard Gold products would have to increase prices, he said.
Foodstuffs spokesperson, Emma Wooster said the procurement and cost of frozen raspberries was a big challenge for buyers at the moment.
“The 2021 berry season in Europe was a tough one with Covid, but mainly due to weather conditions effecting the yields and raspberries were the most affected,” she said.
Wildfires in Europe destroyed entire crops and put pressure on other Northern Hemisphere growers who had already faced unusually cold weather in spring and a heatwave in June, she said.
“Because of all of these factors last year we saw an unprecedented shortage in the global market.”
Stuff.co.nz/May 19, 2022
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