Fresh produce prices spike as Wagga shoppers hit by rising food costs turn to cheaper alternatives

In recent weeks, tomato prices have spiked but Wagga Fruit Supply owner Steve Papasidero believes it's more about unusual seasonal conditions than the current economic climate.

According to its website, Woolworths is selling Truss tomatoes for $13.80/kg while Coles is selling them at $10.90/kg.

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And while Mr Papasidero said his store is selling them at about $7/kg, he has still received numerous customer complaints.

"We've had customers complain about tomato prices over the past month and after doing a bit of digging to find out why, I found out the Queensland season is taking a bit longer to start," he said.

According to the latest ABS data, the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 8.1 per cent in the twelve months to March, with price rises seen across all food categories.

One of the main contributors was dairy and related products, which rose 15.1 per cent in the last year while the cost of bread and cereal products also saw an annual spike of 10.8 per cent. However, meat and seafoods have bucked that trend due to falling beef and lamb prices.

Riverina Producers Market organiser Steve Anderson has seen an increase in visitors to the markets in recent weeks but said it was hard to pinpoint the reason why.

He said there seems to be more interest on buying staples from the meat, egg and fruit and vegetable stallholders.

Also the owner of Wagga Free Range Pork, Mr Anderson said their prices haven't risen with inflation as they are both the producer and seller.

"We're the farmer, small goods maker, butcher and seller, so we do the whole lot," he said.

"Pricing is stable at farmer's markets because you don't have vehicles driving all over the countryside transporting [produce] because are the producers."

Maria Verducci runs a homegrown fruit and vegetable stall at the markets and said their prices don't follow the supermarkets. While she has not seen a spike in sales due to rising cost of living, Mrs Verducci said people prefer to buy her produce as it is fresher and tastier.

Supermarket giant Coles declined to comment on rising food prices at its Wagga stores, but the company revealed its quarterly total supermarket inflation rate recently fell from 7.7 per cent to 6.2 per cent in the third quarter.

Woolworths also declined to comment on the local store prices but a spokesperson said the higher wholesale prices being paid to suppliers were the "primary driver of inflation."

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