NEWS
Shop wisely and buy produce in good supply at a fair price and no Queensland family should be forced to forgo fresh fruit and vegetables as part of their regular diet.
That’s the advice from McWhirters Farmers Markets owner Nick Criticos (pictured) in response to a recent mainstream media article that suggested Queenslanders were being forced to turn to tinned fruit and vegetables as soaring prices in the wake of recent cyclone and flood disasters pushed fresh produce prices supposedly out of reach. The recent Sunday Mail article claimed retailers were applying up to 300 per cent markups on some lines.
Under the heading “Buyers Get the Rough End!” the article gave one example where a farmer had found pineapples being sold at a small fruit shop for 14 times the farmgate price.
Mr Criticos who has operated in the Valley for more than two decades has one simple suggestion to anyone confronted with outlets that are hitting shoppers with anywhere near 300 per cent markups: “Don’t buy them!”
Mr Criticos said wise shoppers needed to understand the industry’s basic rule of supply and demand and adjust their shopping patterns accordingly.
“It’s the nature of the industry. Crops fail. Crops get damaged. Don’t go into a fruit and vegetable store with a set notion that you must have one particular product. Use the alternatives.
“For example, a lot of vegetables are up in price at the moment because of the cold. Wait until supplies improve and prices come down.”
Mr Criticos said a follow-up article in the Courier-Mail some days later had listed a number of produce markets in south-east Queensland where shoppers could supposedly get a good deal on their fruit and vegies.
“Carrots up at the city markets today were $2.50 a kilo. I have the same quality for $1.50. They were selling broccoli for $8 a kilo; we are at $4.
“And my prices includes all the labour and costs associated with running a permanent fruit and vegetable market, not paying a small fee to set up an open-air stall.
“We always apply a fair markup on our cost price. We are here to look after our customers.”
