Coles Boss Wants Aussies To Shop For Seasonal Fruit & Veg As Prices Continue To Soar

With fruit and vegetable prices soaring at the check-out, Coles are encouraging shoppers to try something new.

Instead of looking at recipes that require specific items like lettuce, berries, and beans, which have jumped in price, Coles want shoppers to look to other seasonal products that are in abundance.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news with The National Briefing - keeping you in the loop with news as it hits

The supermarket giant's chief operating officer Matt Swindells told Nine growers are trying to overcome a 'double whammy' of cold weather and flooding.

“The first has been the floods that we all remember that went through southeast Queensland, northern NSW,” he said.

“That damaged crops but it also stopped the farmers being able to plant. You can’t get on to fields and plant crops when the fields are that bad and that creates this gap in supply.”

That was then being “compounded with one of the coldest winters in decades”.

“So, the crops that we have managed to get into the ground, they’re not growing as fast as they normally would do and that is because of the cold weather and the lack of sunlight,” he said.

“The berries will recover quicker but the lettuce is quite delicate as a product to grow, so that might take a little bit longer

But Swindells’ said there were “other products across produce that are in abundance”.

“Pumpkin is cheap, when it is cold and wintry, pumpkin and pumpkin soup will go quite far, the kids will love it and still get their healthy fruit and veg

Meanwhile, Coles are working with suppliers to restore empty shelves as soon as possible.

“Our produce team were up in the flood-affected regions at the very beginning and again last week working and talking to all of our suppliers about … what does the upcoming volume look like, and how do we partner with them longer-term to give them security and surety that we’re going to have a great business for the future and get through this crisis together,” Swindells said.

For Australians looking for intelligent and unbiased news coverage, join renowned journalist Natarsha Belling on Your Morning Agenda for breaking national and international stories as well as the top business and finance stories - every weekday from 6:30am on Listnr