IN FRUIT
One of my favourite fruits is now in stores. New season mangosteens from Far North Queensland have started and are fantastic eating. Whilst a little pricey, the eating experience is well worth it. Prices will drop however as the weather situation eases up north and the season moves into full swing. White peaches are eating great and excellent value, and grapes only get better every week at this time of the year. Green grapes will transition this week from the Menindee variety to Thompson seedless. For something different this week, try the Cotton Candy grapes. They are a super sweet green grape with a flavour that resembles fairy floss. Sure to be a hit with any one that tries them and an ideal snack for the kids. New season Williams pears are arriving in strong numbers and there is excellent value in our imperfect Williams pear range. Figs are in good supply and great eating. Best value this week is the punnet figs and tray sales. The rain and highway closures have disrupted banana supplies from the North Queensland. Whilst prices are the highest they have been since the cyclone Yassi in 2011, it will only be short term. Expect to see some relief in the coming weeks.
IN VEGIES
Many of the vegetable lines are tricky to source. Due to recent weather some lines are only trickling into the markets including broccoli, cauliflower, beans, lettuce, brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, radicchio, loose salads, rhubarb, snow peas and sugar snaps. My advice is to purchase vegies as close as possible to the intended time of use, as shelf life will be an issue. In some better news, the market is well supplied with loose corn, zucchini, asparagus and kumera. Truss tomatoes are excellent now and the strong supply of snacking tomatoes continues. Sweet pearls, sweet delights, Sampari, cherry truss and medley mixes are all well supplied.
