Due to devastating floods and lower levels of sunlight, Coles has worked together with their fresh produce growers to ensure their customers receive sufficient supply.
“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,” Rugby Farm producer Matt Hood said.
South-East Queensland customers will be able to purchase two smaller lettuces for $6.50, current price for one at Coles, keeping customers at the forefront of their minds during these times.
While these lettuces have not fully grown due to the extreme weather conditions, they remain delicious and crunchy.
“We are so pleased to work with Coles to produce a product that will still be delicious and fresh,” Hood said. “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.”
This initiative ensures no lettuce will go to waste as there is ample supply in the field.
“When we 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,” Hood said.
“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.”
Craig Taylor, general manager at Coles said the fresh produce team is working closely with growers to help them recover as quickly as possible.