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Kūmara is back in abundance after numerous crops were ravaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
About 97 percent of Aotearoa’s kūmara is grown in Northland due to its warm environment and great soil, however much of it was left decaying in the ground since of storm damage.
At its scarcest, some kūmara costs peaked at $14/kg.
The brand-new season’s orange, gold and reds are back on grocery store racks.
Foods Produce and Butchery North Island head Brigit Corson stated red had to do with $7/kg.
Orange and gold are only simply being gathered, however they are anticipated to cut in half in rate to $7/kg in the next couple of weeks.
Corson informed Checkpoint that as supply enhanced, those rates would boil down.
“Kūmara is a fantastic crop, so we utilize all of it.
“The huge ones usually go to processing, the little scrappier ones, they get steam peeled and popped into kūmara hash, and after that the ones that are ideal wind up in Pak’nSave, New World and Four Square for our consumers.
“But over the in 2015, since of the lack – huge, little, medium and whatever in between – we’ve been attempting to get on our racks therefore that’s why there’s been a little bit of a size variation for our consumers.”
She stated in 2023, about 60 percent of the crop was eliminated.
This year the crop is anticipated to go back to nearly typical levels.
“Kūmara is a once-a-year crop. What occurs is it gets collected, and then it gets cold kept and simply kind of launched to the market.
“So we’re anticipating with a regular crop that we will have the ability to have kūmara up until the brand-new season, which sort of starts in February each year.”
She stated stone fruit and apple growers in the Hawke’s Bay were severely affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Some had actually lost 25 percent of their trees.
“Fortunately we’ve had an incredible. The stone fruit and nectarines that you’re seeing in shop at the minute are simply impressive and they’re out of Hawke’s Bay.
“So I’m still motivating everybody: ‘a stone fruit a day assists Hawke’s Bay’ so rip into those charming nectarines out there at the minute.”
According to Stats NZ, typical kūmara rates in January 2023 were $4.37/ kg, and soared in September 2023 to $12.98/ kg.
A take a look at the rate of kūmara in various grocery stores:
Pak’nSave
Orange kūmara – $5.99/ kg (discount rate)
Gold kūmara – $5.99/ kg (discount rate)
Red kūmara – $5.99/ kg
New World
Orange kūmara – $13.99/ kg
Gold kūmara – $13.99/ kg
Red kūmara – $6.99/ kg
Woolworths
Orange kūmara – $13.99/ kg
Red kūmara – $7/kg