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Price rise a juicy bonus for growers
3 Jul 2003
Suppliers to SPC Ardmona have been given an early Christmas present, with the company announcing price rises for next season six months ahead of schedule. Managing director Nigel Garrard said the company hadn't raised base-level fruit prices across the board for a long time and had never announced them so early. It's part of SPC Ardmona's bid to boost confidence after a tough season due to the drought, he said.
The new prices are: pears: $350/tonne (up $20), apricots $650 (up $50), plums $500 (up $20).
The company has also extended its drought support and planting incentives. Drought measures include grants of $7 to $15 a tonne, depending on the percentage of water rights next season in the Goulburn system; interest-free loans of $20 to $30 a tonne to buy water; a tree-planting subsidy of $5 a tree (up to $5,000) for trevatt apricots and satsuma plums, and $7 a tree (maximum $7,000) for William pears.
SPC Ardmona will also take around 900 tonnes of peaches from Riverland growers, who were stranded by the Berri cannery's closure for a second year.
Weekly Times, 2/7/03, page 8.
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