Brisbane Market Report – 25

Fresh produce prices have crept up this week as the cool has affected the winter cropping regions, slowing down growth and reducing supplies of some fruit shop favourites.

Short supplies of beans, broccoli, cauliflower, celery and zucchini have made the best quality of these vegetables much higher in price.

Prices have firmed on Asian vegetables, imported asparagus, cabbage, eggplant, fennel, parsnips, snow peas, silverbeet, squash, sweet corn and potatoes.

However, there are still cheaper options with beetroot, brussels sprouts, capsicum, carrot, leeks, sweet potatoes and pumpkin reasonably priced.

Australian Mushrooms and Onions Australia are promoting adding their produce into family meals to boost flavour and bolster nutrition, with both mushrooms and onions value-for-money this week.

Lettuce is expensive but mixed leaf salad is reasonably priced.   Most varieties of tomatoes will cost more than usual, as are avocados, cucumber and eshallots firmly priced.

Fresh herbs are good value with all lines plentiful.

The jazz apple, royal gala and pink lady are the best eating with all apple varieties firmly priced.

Price conscious shoppers should look for bananas, mandarins, cara cara (a red-fleshed naval orange), New Zealand kiwifruit, pineapples, passionfruit, pawpaw and honeydew melon. White skinned honeydew is sweeter, with more natural sugars than watermelon. Yellow skinned honeydew has less sugar so it's great to have in savoury dishes.

All berries are firmly priced, including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Lemons are expensive while limes and navel oranges are firmly priced.

US stonefruit and cherries are available, filling the gap of the Australian off-season.

For those looking for something different, sample some of the many Australian exotic fruits in season including custard apples, pomegranate, starfruit (carambola), soursop, cumquats, dragon fruit (pitaya), rambutan, black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit), chestnuts, rosellas, ruby grapefruit and nashi pears.