Peak body for the dried fruits industry, Dried Fruits Australia has urged Sunbeam Foods to review its prices, sighting that they have either remained stagnant or have become worse than last year.
Chairman of the group, Mark King says that the only proposed increase in price was that of the two highest grades of sultanas which rose by 2.5 percent. King is calling for a review of the other varieties considering that the global price of sultanas has increased and that the Australian dollar has depreciated by 15 percent.
King told The Weekly Times Now that in addition to low prices, Sunbeam had raised the penalty for brown fruit by $100 per tonne, representing between $200 and $250 per tonne less than light grade fruit. King has described the changes as a “slap in the face”.
King noted that in contrast to Sunbeam, Australian Premium Dried Fruits – sunbeam’s main competitor – had increased its prices across all grades of light and dark sultanas with the exception of the top five-crown light grade which remained at the same price.
Fruit supply manager for Sunbeam Foods, Chris Ellis has allegedly met with both representatives of Dried Fruits Australia and growers to discuss the pricing strategy for 2014.