Monday, February 17, 2025

The Fruity Farmer: Custard apples

Recent stories

“Custard apples come lumpy,
Quite seedy and bumpy,
When added to fruit salad,
They rhyme like a ballad.”

In case anyone hasn’t noticed we are well into custard apple season until probably October when the Queensland fruit fly will start to get active with the warmer weather and sting the fruit.

Until then the super sweet fruit, great eaten on their own for a refreshing sugar hit or blended with most other fruits for a delicious lift.

African Pride (fairly large bumpy and spikey at 1 to 2 kgs) and KJ Pinks (Smooth skin, less seeds, smaller fruit at 250 to 500g) are the two common varieties grown. Both are good. The hundreds of parrots, bower birds, honey eaters and possums can’t be wrong. Wholesale market prices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne are a bit depressed this season with lots of small fruit in the market.

Growers average around $20 per tray from wholesalers, less our expenses of freight, trays for packaging, market levies, Freshcare accreditation, Council, Local Land Services (LLS), and water authority rates, electricity for coolroom and packing shed, casual labour and all the other farm inputs to grow the fruit.

Big supermarkets vary a bit but in Capital Cities they usually sell for between $70 and $120 per tray. Lots of overhead expenses too no doubt.

We see the government has started a hard-hitting inquiry into this disparity again. I think it’s the 4th or 5th hard hitting enquiry into pricing in the 40 years Mrs Fruity and I have been sending fruit to the wholesale markets. We remember in 1992 being over the moon with receiving $14 per tray. Almost booked a cruise.

Fingers crossed the government will sort it out in favour of the farmers this time around, but just the same, we won’t be booking a cruise just yet.  

Dunoon and District Gazette June-September 2024

This article appeared in the Dunoon and District Gazette, June-September 2024.


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