The weather is warmer and the crowds will hopefully be bigger as venues start to plan their spring menus.
We've spoken to Anthony Ponte from Melba Fresh, Joe Hamad from Fruitique, Gavin Kulper from Mastercut Meats and Peter Glinellis from YCC Poultry who all offered their valuable insight on where you’ll be spending more, and where you’ll be spending less.
Fruit & Veg in Spring 2024
“Queensland is colder than normal, which means we’re not experiencing a good year for produce. This means prices are higher,” says Anthony Ponte from Melba Fresh in Victoria. “While massive shortages aren’t common at this time of the year, capsicums might go short, and cabbage might still be short too…They’ve had a bad year."
He also believes that when it comes to rockmelons and honeydews, pricing will be higher as we enter spring, until the local melons start later in the season.
Local corn will be abundant starting late spring (around late September/October), and tomatoes will start becoming abundant in December.
Anthony also says that herbs are much better priced in spring, particularly flat and continental parsley, although coriander should be avoided as normally it goes to flower.
Joe Hamad from Sydney’s Fruitique agrees that herbs are better priced in spring than winter, but has observed higher than normal prices recently due to colder than usual temperatures across the country.
Limes have been expensive and may continue to be expensive for a while, but as the weather warms up Joe is positive that this should ease.
Joe also says strawberries and spring veggies will be cheaper. “Strawberries are cheap, and your spring veggies (dutch carrots, broad beans, peas, green beans) will be in abundance, as well as broccoli and cauliflower."
Regardless of the above advice, if the weather continues to be unseasonably cold, venues may struggle with prices that either stay stagnant or don’t drop.
Meat in Spring 2024
Gavin Kulper from MasterCut Meats says that the market is slow right now and the prices of meat are holding as a result. “Everyone is quiet and export is slow.”
Gavin says his stand-out observation is the price of lamb - especially legs of lamb. “Lamb legs are the most commonly bought cut of lamb, and if they’re not at record highs right now, they will be.”
The main reason behind this steep increase is the shortage of larger lambs, which keeps driving up the price of whole lambs.
“There are still some cuts of lamb at a good price, but most people want legs. I haven’t seen them in 32 years at the price they’re at now - they’re almost 35% higher. The flipside is that the market is slow, so lamb legs could come down just as fast as they’ve come up.”
Gavin also says that pork and beef prices are stable, despite the recent rise in pork belly. “Pork belly rose to ridiculous prices and it’s come back down. That wasn’t great for venues because pork belly is one of the most popular cuts.”
Meat Summary
- Lamb legs are climbing to record prices right now (but could come down just as fast)
- Other cuts of lamb are still available at a good price
- Pork prices are stable
- Beef prices are stable
Poultry in Spring 2024
Peter Glinellis from YCC Poultry says that when the seasons change so do the demands for different cuts of chicken.
“Breasts and wings are always cheaper in winter, but start going up in price as the months get hotter. That’s because people want lighter, pub or barbeque food when they go out in summer. Grilled chicken is a summer food.”
Conversely, chicken thighs, maryland, and drumsticks aren’t as abundant in during winter as those cuts for casseroles and stews. There’s unlikely to be any significant price increases as the seasons change though. “The birds have been pretty healthy so there’s no issue on that side of things.”
In terms of the recent egg shortage, Peter observed an average 30% increase in the egg price in recent weeks. However, he says there’s not too much to worry about.
"The media makes it sound bad, but I think the price of eggs should be back on track in the next couple of months."
Poultry Summary
- Chicken breasts & wings will go up in price as demand increases with warmer weather
- Chicken thighs, maryland and drumsticks will drop in price as they are more popular in winter
- The egg price should be back on track over the spring season
If you’re creating your spring venue and are looking for suppliers, explore Beyond the Craft 2024.
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