Dave's Market Update & Pick of the Week - Garlic - 21 February 2024
Dave's Market Update
In Veg
“Similar to last week, our vegetable category is largely unchanged. A notable exception is Argentinian garlic. There is a window for the next three or four months as we come to end of our Aussie season and the imported product is far superior. As well this week that garlic is extremely cheap, around one third the price it was last week.
The only other real bargain is those delicious little baby cukes which are still very inexpensive.”
In Fruit
As with the last couple of weeks, the action this week is all in fruit. A couple of Autumn lines that are falling quickly are Mangosteens and Dragon fruit. I think Mangosteens are one of the nicest fruits around, I really love them. Their peak season is March so we will see prices continue to fall in the next couple of weeks. Dragon fruit also is very popular and very well priced this week.
Limes, nectarines (and especially imperfect nectarines) as well as peaches continue to be great eating and an absolute bargain. Raspberries are coming into their Autumn flush and although a bit smaller than the summer fruit. I think these late February and March raspberries are the best eating fruit of the year.
In our NSW stores, we have a real bargain with Valencia Oranges this week. Not as attractive as the imported Navels from the USA, however they are one third the price. If you squeeze your own juice, these are the only oranges to use (HFM uses them for our juice). A 3kg net of these oranges is very close to half last week’s price.
All grapes are fantastic! I love black Muscatels, but the new varieties of white seedless are so good to eat that the Thompson seedless that we would traditionally sell at this time are really struggling to clear…they are now pretty much a supermarket grape, most independents won’t buy them.
Seedless watermelon and bananas are both still reasonably priced as well.”
- David Harris
Dave's Pick of the Week
“My pick this week is garlic. The product is not Australian because it is now getting late for Australian garlic and any still lying around will be very much at risk of either shooting or being rotten inside.
The new season Australian product is still 4 months away from starting. The importers have misjudged the market and the whole of Australia is now oversupplied with Argentinian product.
They say it is an ill wind that blows no good, and the good this week will be a bargain for our customers, below the importers' cost. Harris Farm is going to try to quit this product in the next month as there will soon be Mexican garlic arriving, and then Spanish just behind that and these all need to be sold before the new season Aussie gets underway.
The garlic is good and is less than one-third of last week’s price. Look for an absolute bargain tomorrow in all our stores. My tip is to buy a few weeks' worth!’
- David Harris
HOW TO PICKPick large, plump, firm, and dry heads.
HOW TO STORE
Store in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated place. Good quality garlic should keep for some weeks.
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