Tough growing season drives eye-watering onion prices in New Zealand

Published 2022년 11월 12일

Tridge summary

The article explains the significant increase in the price of onions in New Zealand, with the cost of brown onions rising by 200% and red onions seeing even higher prices. This surge in pricing is attributed to several factors, including a tough growing season marked by dry conditions, which reduced yields. Additionally, the cost of essential inputs such as fertiliser, agri-chemicals, and diesel has escalated, leading to increased production costs. Despite these challenges, New Zealand has achieved self-sufficiency in onion production and is now the world's largest exporter of red onions, despite the higher production costs and the need to import some red onions due to their lower storage life.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Onions are currently more expensive than usual due to a tough growing season and the increased price of fertiliser and diesel. One retailer says the humble brown onion has gone up 200 percent, and as for the red onion, it's even more expensive. Stats NZ figures released on Saturday showed fruit and veg prices had jumped 17 percent on this time last year, with food price increases the highest in almost a decade and a half. Onions New Zealand chief executive James Kuperus told Checkpoint a tough growing season has contributed to the high price of onions. "It was very dry last December and January, which has led to a decrease in yield." Supply is tight as New Zealand is at the end of last season's crop, and the new season's crop is about to be harvested, he added. A decreased yield means onions cost about 72 cents a kilo more than at this time last year, Kuperus said. Other costs have also gone up and some of this has been passed on, he continued. "We've had fertiliser prices go up ...

Source: Newshub