the price of bananas

bobson (Bob) · #1 23-05-2011, 07:09 PM

Just spoke to a friend in Montreal Canada and he said they pay $0.69 c per kg for bananas. A workmate was in Hawaii for a week and he said its $0.55 c per kg and they are huge and sweet he said.

I understand after a storm in Qld. the prices went up, but even before the storm we payed much more than other countries who had to import bananas.

Why cant we import bananas from Philippines or Indonesia until our own farmers can produce local again?

bob

Bassnut (Fred) · #2 23-05-2011, 07:25 PM

Because its just wrong. Who cares if bananas cost $0.55 or $1 a kg, do you want to bury QLD producers altogether during the tough times?.

So, do we just import everything if its a bit cheaper and stuff local industry?.

bobson (Bob) · #3 23-05-2011, 07:37 PM

Fred,

I said:

Quote:

Why cant we import bananas from Philippines or Indonesia until our own farmers can produce local again?

I didn't say we keep importing it for good.

And its not "a bit cheaper" but 12-15 times cheaper!

[1ponders] (Paul) · #4 23-05-2011, 07:39 PM

$1 a kg??? where??? I bought a hot chook and a 7 finger hand of bananas this afternoon. The chook was $9.98. Total cost $23.90. Highway robbery!

tlgerdes (Trevor) · #5 23-05-2011, 07:44 PM

Buy something else in season thats cheap, it you want bananas pay the price.

If we import from OS and just one banana disease gets through, what then?

UniPol · #6 23-05-2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Because its just wrong. Who cares if bananas cost $0.55 or $1 a kg, do you want to bury QLD producers altogether during the tough times?.

So, do we just import everything if its a bit cheaper and stuff local industry?.

Right said Fred,

Support our long standing industry, just pay the locally produced Australian prices, not just now, but always, otherwise just go without. My opinion of course

.

bobson (Bob) · #7 23-05-2011, 07:52 PM

Trevor,

Quote:

If we import from OS and just one banana disease gets through, what then?

I agree, but did you know we already import fruit and vegetables? So what about diseases from them?

leon · #8 23-05-2011, 07:55 PM

I have a couple on lay Buy as we speak,

Na, just kidding, however I would prefer that than to buy imported stuff any any price.

Leon

gman (Grant) · #9 23-05-2011, 08:03 PM

Bananas in Melb are about $10 per kg now - they were about $14 per kg about 4 weeks ago.
Depending on the size of the bananas that means you get anywhere from 4 to 9 bananas for $10.
Most bananas are picked green and kept in a controlled environment to stop them from ripening until they are ready to be sold.

Ever notice how your fruit goes off inside a week???

So we buy something else and the bananas get thrown out.
The retailer just bumps up the price of tomatos, apples and broccoli for the week to recoup his losses.

You are paying for the bananas, you just don't know it.

Make them affordable and everyones a winner

Bassnut (Fred) · #10 23-05-2011, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobson

Fred,

I said:

I didn't say we keep importing it for good.

And its not "a bit cheaper" but 12-15 times cheaper!

mmm, ok, I didnt realise they were $10 a kg

Exfso (Peter) · #11 23-05-2011, 08:20 PM

They are currently $13.00 /kg here in Adelaide. What amazes me is that they keep saying that 80% of the banana growing region got wiped out. I know that the area that got his was a prime area, but surely they dont produce 80% of the Australian bananas. I reckon it is a total ripoff

pmrid (Peter) · #12 23-05-2011, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

mmm, ok, I didnt realise they were $10 a kg

Yep. Last lot we bought worked out at just over A$2 per banana. We can't afford bananas at those prices and if they are out of season here, then these are imported anyway. And if they aren't, then you can be pretty sure the farmer isn't getting too much of that $2.
Peter

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #13 23-05-2011, 08:47 PM

It's good to see the small, local growers finally making some decent cash selling their nanas at the markets.
I agree, we don't need to import them.

DavidU (Dave) · #14 23-05-2011, 08:49 PM

I was going to ask the Safeway checkout girl of they did Layby on bananas.
I was paying about $3 per banana.

tlgerdes (Trevor) · #15 23-05-2011, 09:24 PM

One big problem we have is that we have been conditioned to only accept certain quality bananas, and by that I mean bananas that look like bananas.

I remember after the last cyclone (Larry) went through we had the same issue, banana prices went through the roof.

Yet, i remember making the best banana cakes then. We had bananas and couldnt eat enough of them. But, our bananas didnt look like bananas, we had all the rejects, the doubles, the triples, the quintuplets, septuplets. The ones that didnt usually make it to the shop because they didnt look like normal bananas. They tasted great, just like a banana should.

My father-in-law made a packet selling the 2nds, because no one want to buy them at the markets because they didnt look right, he was buying the rejects at $0.50 a kilo and selling them for $2/kg, cheap, when people were paying $6-10/kg for correctly shaped bananas.

Go and ask you local grocer if he can get the banana 2nds from the markets, you cant ask Woolies or Coles to do that. I know they are there, we are eating them now.

TrevorW · #16 23-05-2011, 09:36 PM

I do the shopping each week, carrots last week here at WW were a $1.74 this week 88c, lettuces are still nearly $3, potatoes $3 a kg, tomatoes still high averaging $6 a kg, cauliflower dropped considerably recently from around $5 for one to under $3, banana's forget it I'd have too mortgage the house. Mushrooms consistently $10 a kg and have not changed in price for a least a year

No the big two have got us be the short and curlies, they dictate pricing, what we really need in this country is more competition

who apart from the oil companies help force up petrol prices

consumers just don't buy a product and see how fast the price will come down

jenchris (Jennifer) · #17 23-05-2011, 10:35 PM

Sign in a shop "No Cash or Bananas left on premises overnight."

Actually I go to the market in Nerang on Sunday morning - I pay about $5.50 to 6 for my bananas at the moment.
Carrots about 1.20, Sebago spuds 1.50, caulis $2.0
They stay edible for a lot longer than supermarket trash.

DavidNg (David) · #18 23-05-2011, 10:41 PM

It was $19.99/kg at upper northshore sydney and my children kept asking for bananas every day lately.

acropolite (Phil) · #19 23-05-2011, 10:46 PM

I have no problem paying high prices if the growers at are getting a fair share of the sale price, given our mostly duopoly supermarket system I very much doubt that the growers are getting a fair share. As for the cheap milk scam, IMO that's simply a ploy to get any independent milk sellers out of the market and nothing to do with competition between the big sellers.

JethroB76 (Jeff) · #20 23-05-2011, 11:53 PM

Prices are completely fixed by the major supermarkets, why else does the price of in season fruit vary from one week to the next by 100% or more? Supply and demand they say.. yeah right. They just cycle the prices - even for fruit or veges that should be cheap.
That's why you always know that mandarines for example will be $1.99 this week, $3.98 the next, then back to $1.99 the week after and so on.

Worst thing is that the farmers get 2/10ths of stuff all from it..