Apple lovers may have noticed they are currently paying a whole lot more for their favourite fruit. With the new apple season only just starting, last year’s stocks exhausted and a slightly lower yield predicted this year, those in the fruit industry are predicting prices for fruit in the supermarkets will soar. WA Independent Grocers Association president John Cummings said new season apples were currently retailing for between $4 and $7 a kilogram.

The arrival of new season fruit will bring prices down by as much as $2, however they will still be about a dollar per kilogram more expensive than last year. Mr Cummings said consumers were telling him they did not mind paying a little extra for their fruit, so long as that extra cost was being passed back to the growers. The only apples still available from last year are common varieties like pink ladies and granny smith. They are currently fetching prices of up to $9 a kilo in some stores, well above the average.

Mr Cummings said these stocks were likely to run out within weeks and there could be a period when apples were no longer available as new season supplies were still up to 12 weeks away from hitting shop shelves. Low returns for farmers in recent years mean many experienced apple growers have left the land. There is also an increase in demand from retailers in the Eastern States, hungry for WA-grown fruit.

Kirup grower and former Apple and Pear Council chairman Angelo Logiudice said getting rid of the old season stock was great for the industry since they could guarantee producers they were eating the freshest apples. Mr Logiudice said normally last season’s fruit could still be on the supermarket shelves as late as April or May. While stocks of fruit are low, growers are getting a great return, however that will not last once the new season kicks in.

He predicted that the price would dip while the season was in full swing before creeping back up again later in the year. Sadly, Mr Logiudice said high supermarket prices were not always returned to growers and this difference was worth real investigation. During a boom year, apples being sold at the wholesale markets could fetch between $1 and $1.50 a kilogram, however once the commission was taken out the grower could get less than $1 a kilogram for his fruit. Mr Logiudice said to have apples on special in the supermarkets was great for consumers, however the grower was the one being penalised.

He said supermarkets did not reduce their profits in order to give consumers lower prices, and instead they pay lower prices to the farmers. "The grower seems to be the softest target and we wear it every time", Mr Logiudice said.