Shoppers hit with fruit and veg price hike as inflation bites
Queen Victoria Market fruit and vegetable vendor Shaniful Shaniful said he was forced to increase his prices as fuel costs rose.
He said he competed with other grocers to offer customers the lowest prices possible, but rising wholesale costs were hurting his business, which he has owned for nine years.
Shaniful Shaniful outside his fruit and vegetable stall at the Queen Victoria Market.Credit:Eddie Jim
“We can’t make money now. It’s too expensive here. We put prices too high, people can’t afford it,” he said.
Shaniful said he was now forced to sell cucumbers for $8 a kilogram when they had been previously sold for $4 or $5 a kilo.
Apples, capsicums and tomatoes had also gone up, he said, pointing to the fresh produce as he closed his stall on Thursday afternoon.
Market shopper Dmitro Savin, 36, said he noticed Australian fruit and vegetable prices were higher than those in Ukraine since he arrived in the country two months ago.
Ukrainian Dmitro Savin shops for fruit and vegetables in Melbourne on Thursday.Credit:Eddie Jim
He said he was less aware of significant price rises since he had only been in the country for a short period but believed the cost of fresh produce was manageable.
“It’s higher than Ukraine, but it’s OK for me at least,” he said.
The recently released ABS figures also showed the overall consumer price index had risen 7 per cent in the year to July and 6.8 per cent to August.
The ABS has started to release inflation figures every month to provide economists with more up-to-date data to track the state of the economy. A more accurate and complete September quarter inflation figure will be published on October 26.
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