Vegetable prices have increased and it will take months before flood-damaged crops are back to normal, says a supplier.
Photo: 123RF
Heavy rain and flooding during March and April caused root rot disease in some crops and the vegetables had to be destroyed.
Beans, broccoli, salads, silverbeet, lettuce and spinach were in short supply, leading to a spike in retail prices.
Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises both said their supermarkets throughout the country had been affected by price increases.
Levin supplier Woodhaven Gardens has over 1000 acres of crops, and its production manager, Adam Jory, said the damage to its operation was extensive.
"Some paddocks we've lost 100 percent of the crop that we've sown recently; the young crops they haven't been able to cope with it at all.
"Other paddocks if they dry out, and they continue to dry out, we might be able to salvage some crop."
Mr Jory said the company would take a financial hit as it would not be sending supermarkets as many vegetables as it did this time last year.
