However,fresh fruit and vegetables could increase up to 10 per cent as high petrol prices push up the cost of transporting goods,according to Anthony Patti,the store manager of Melbourne-based fresh produce store La Manna Fresh.
This includes bananas,tomatoes,zucchinis,beans,cucumbers,avocados and mangoes. The further away the produce is grown,the higher the cost to the shopper.
“We grow a lot of stuff here in Victoria in summer,but in winter,a majority of stuff comes from interstate,” Mr Patti said. Meanwhile,vegetables like broccoli,cauliflower,and lettuce are grown locally across the majority of the year,and won’t be felt by Victorians,he added.
Trucking companies have already started to pass on the higher price of diesel to their clients. Fuel levies have risen in tandem with oil prices and chief executive of the South Australian Road Transport Association Steve Shearer said trucking companies had no choice but to pass on the higher costs.
Shell Petrol station on Bell Street,Pascoe Vale,Melbourne on 14 March 2022.Credit:Justin McManus
“Our profit margin in the trucking industry is typically is 2 to 3 per cent...but the increase in fuel prices have seen our overall costs rise by about 8 per cent,” he said.
“So it’s well in excess of anything we could even dream about absorbing. Any truck operator who doesn’t pass on the fuel price increases in full will be broke within three months.”
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