NZ asparagus growers claim to be losing money on every bunch of asparagus sold. Also, they are turning to the export market to absorb some volumes, but there's no money in that either.
Chairperson Cam Lewis from the Asparagus Growers Council said it was ‘pulling out all the stops’ to do something, because the crop was in the ground for 15 years so it had to play the long game. Lewis said demand was 25 percent down, possibly more, on expected levels.
Mowing a portion of produce was seen as the best way to maintain crop quality and avoid flooding a market where customers had less money for groceries than growers anticipated at the start of the season, Lewis said.
As an industry, the growers are also dipping into long-term reserves to give the green spears a push on the local scene, now even offering travel vouchers. Lewis: “Buy two bunches and every two weeks there's a $5000 travel voucher up for grabs.”
Source: rnz.co.nz