Strangely, New Zealand brown onions are selling more cheaply in a British supermarket than in New Zealand itself. A tweet has highlighted the price of Tesco onions, which were selling for 95p a kilogram, or just under $2. In comparison, the same onions were selling for $2.99 a kilogram in Countdown and $2.39 in Pak’n Save.
According to Chief executive at Onions New Zealand, James Kuperus, the landed price of New Zealand onions in Britain, which represented the total cost of getting the product there, was about $2 a kilogram. Individual exporters and growers needed to determine the price they were willing to sell at, he said.
“We are not a cheap supplier of onions,” he added. “We had a crop shortage in New Zealand this year with the weather events. So we can rule out a grower selling cheap from New Zealand. I suspect what has happened here is Tesco has an Aldi price match policy."
New Zealand exported 6,400 tons of onions to the UK this year. In total, the country exported between 150,000 and 180,000 tons of onions every year. Britain does not apply VAT sales tax to fresh food. With the free-trade agreement with the UK coming into force this year, it would make the country competitive with other counter-seasonal suppliers.
Source: stuff.co.nz