16/10/2026
Fresh wisdom. Many layers.
🍌🍌🍌
Bananas are short. You probably have noticed that this week’s lot was greener than normal: the supply is so short that no-one has enough time to ripen the fruit, so they go out the door almost as fast as they come in. They will ripen up OK, but they’ll take a few more days to get there. The shortage is so dire that even our orders are cut back most days, so Moussa and his team are in the market by 1am to collect the missing ones. So far so good, but the supply issues are going to be with us for a few more weeks before things improve.
What’s causing it? Cooler-than-usual spring weather during much of September, which has drastically slowed fruit growth and maturation. Daytime temperatures around Innisfail, Mareeba and the Atherton Tablelands were 2-3 degrees Celsius below normal - enough to slow things down.
This is why Coffs Harbour fruit takes 2-3 months longer to ripen than North Queensland bananas: it’s just too cool. That also explains why Coffs growers, who have been cancelled by Coles, don’t actually have much spare fruit until late October or early November.
As mentioned earlier, we have been in contact with Coffs growers and a distributor to source more of our bananas from Coffs Harbour. We used to get a lot more fruit, until much of the region started converting to blueberries.
Our own Jordan is driving up at the end of the month to interview a few growers, and from early November we hope to have Coffs fruit in the mix. You’ll generally find Coffs bananas sweeter because they take longer to reach maturity, but also less glamourous as their longer maturation also makes them more vulnerable to insect attacks, wind and leaf rub. We’ll keep you posted.
🍓🫐🥭🍉🍊
In other fruit news, it’s berries and mangoes that really set the tone this week. After a low start, mango volumes are picking up - and we quietly hope to see some low-cost trays becoming available over the coming weeks.
The Victorian strawberry season has started early, but good volumes are mainly driven by small-medium fruit. Glamour berries will be in demand during the Racing carnivals in Melbourne and Sydney in early November, but supply will improve from mid-November onwards (weather permitting).
In other good news, watermelon prices are dropping, and almost all citrus is cheap. We expect to start with peaches and nectarines in a week’s time: we’ve been keeping an eye on stone fruit for a few weeks, and they’re sweetening up nicely - and coming down in price. Having said that, the industry is expecting 10% lower volumes because of the unseasonably warm winter. This has reduced “chilling hours” required by deciduous trees for a healthy fruit set. Oh, and you can also expect early cherries from Boosey Fruit within the next 2 weeks!
🫛🥕🥒🍄🟫🫑
Most vegetable categories have ample supply, although broccoli and cauliflowers have tightened noticeably. Avocados remain light on, beans are cheaper but snowpeas are up. Why not try some broad beans or fresh peas this week? They have a short season, but both are in peak supply.
Other good value vegetables this week include carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms (small cups under $10/kg), capsicums, most lettuces, celery, pumpkins, potatoes, most herbs and leafy greens. George Portelli is expecting a bumper silverbeet crop, and Manuel Xerri has an excess of red cabbages. Ok, neither are typical spring vegies - but they’re super-cheap, so please help them out!
Tomatoes are still struggling a bit, but truss tomatoes, rainbow medley and small Kumato are relatively good value. Zucchini has been expensive but we’re expecting the price to drop over the coming week or two.
