Supermarket giant Coles is working together with its fresh produce growers to provide a temporary solution for customers wanting to buy iceberg lettuces, after floods and cold weather have impacted their supply in south east Queensland.
South east Queensland customers will be able to purchase two smaller lettuces for $6.50, the same price they would currently pay for one at Coles.
While these lettuces haven't fully grown due to the extremely cold weather, they are still delicious and in fantastic condition.
The initiative allows growers in the Lockyer Valley to utilise some of the iceberg lettuce crops that have been impacted on by the recent wet weather and will improve availability for customers.
Lockyer Valley producer Matt Hood from Rugby Farm said there is plenty of this product in their fields and this initiative will ensure they don't go to waste.
"We've had devastating floods earlier this year, ongoing heavy rainfall, recent cold weather and lower levels of sunlight and that means we've struggled to get our lettuces to grow to a big enough size that customers would expect," Mr Hood said.
"We are so pleased to work with Coles to produce a product that will still be delicious and fresh.
"The current iceberg lettuces in the fields are small, however the hearts are still crisp and great for eating, which is why we are doubling up to give customers two instead of one."
Coles general manager of produce Craig Taylor said the Coles fresh produce team are working closely with growers to help them recover as quickly as possible.
"The onset of winter has brought some freezing temperatures around Australia.
"While Coles has an abundance of certain fresh fruit and vegetables like avocados, pears, oranges, kiwi fruit, onions, carrots and potatoes that offer great value, some items are in restricted supply," Craig said.
Mr Taylor said when they spoke to the team at Rugby Farm and heard that there was a supply of delicious lettuces in the ground that weren't going to make it to the full size because of the cold weather we knew we had to come up with a solution to help our customers and our growers.
"A two pack will offer value to our customers with a price in line with a single full size iceberg lettuce, and it will help our growers make the most of their crops while giving our customers more supply."
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Helen Walker
Helen is the Toowoomba-based journalist who loves nothing better than covering anything horse sport related, however she covers all commodities and personality yarns. Over the years she has lived in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Longreach and Roma filing stories for the 'bible of the bush'. Contact 0459 827414.
Helen is the Toowoomba-based journalist who loves nothing better than covering anything horse sport related, however she covers all commodities and personality yarns. Over the years she has lived in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Longreach and Roma filing stories for the 'bible of the bush'. Contact 0459 827414.
