Australian consumers are being urged to buy local after cannery giant SPC announced it would slash its order from some growers for the upcoming season.
The company said it had made the “difficult decision” to reduce orders for peaches and pears by 40 per cent for the upcoming season as a result of consumer spending habits amid a cost-of-living crisis.
The company has been processing fruit in Shepparton in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley for more than a century.
But it said it was facing reduced demand for its products – which are made from Australian-grown fruit – as households slash their budgets.
It said consumers were turning to cheaper products – made from imported fruit sourced from countries where production costs were lower – ahead of Australian-made products
“As a result of the cost-of-living crisis, the average Australian household is under pressure, and customers are purchasing alternative products imported from countries such as South Africa and China, where the cost of production is lower,” an SPC spokesperson said.
“As a result of this reduced demand, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our orders of peaches and pears for the upcoming season.”
SPC said it expected its demand for peaches and pears to “normalise” in 2026.
It said it had given growers advance notice about upcoming changes to its production to give them as much notice as possible.
“Our sourcing of apricots, plums and apples will remain unchanged,” SPC’s spokesperson said.