With many crops from the city’s billion-dollar food basin “wiped out” by floods, Sydney’s already skyrocketing vegetable costs are expected to jump even further.
Farming leaders warn that the extreme weather that is impacting huge swaths of northwest Sydney will have an impact on greens, specifically, with prices for everything from broccoli to lettuce to cabbage poised to soar amid a shortage.
Sydney residents should be ready for greater discomfort at the grocery store checkout, according to NSW Farmers President James Jackson.
He predicted that “those kinds of crops” would either be eliminated or pushed back in terms of harvest.
There will undoubtedly be price repercussions because some Sydney-based suppliers of particular fruits and vegetables will undoubtedly see some pressure.
Fruit and vegetable prices increased 6.7% in the year ending in March 2022, with certain regions seeing iceberg lettuce reach eye-watering $12 per head.
According to Mr. Jackson, “severe damage” in the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley will increase the cost pressure.
After passing significant flood levels earlier in the day, the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond rose to 14 meters at shortly after 2 p.m. on Monday and continued to rise at Windsor.
At Lower Portland, the river reached severe flood levels at lunchtime.
By 2 PM, the Nepean River at Menangle had risen to 13.66 meters.
Macquarie River and St. George’s Basin flood warnings were also issued.
Flooding in Queensland and NSW between February and April has limited the availability of food in Australia’s eastern regions.
Fuel, energy fertilizer, chemical price increases, and other factors have increased production expenses for all Australian farmers.
By August, southern Queensland’s fruit and vegetable production should reach pre-flood levels.
Meanwhile, Australia’s cost of living problem will get worse as Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, and IGA all plan to raise prices on hundreds of items in the coming weeks.
As a result of supermarkets granting price-hike requests from producers of processed and packaged goods that are experiencing higher expenses, consumers may expect higher grocery bills starting on August 1.
Due to rising expenses for building homes and fuel, inflation spiked to 5.1% in March of the prior year.