Australia is seeing a growing number of cases involving Australian strawberries being found to have been inserted with pins or needles used for sewing. The incidents compelled Australian Minister for Trade Annastacia Palaszczuk to offer a $71,500 reward for any information that will help arrest the people behind the misconduct.
Palaszczuk outlined that aside from culprits putting families at great dangers, the people behind the illegal activity is also threatening the country's entire strawberry industry.
There are about 150 strawberry growers in Queensland with most of the farms located in Dayboro, Wamuran, Beerwah, Elimbah, Caboolture, Bundaberg, and Stanthorpe. Strawberry farmers in Queensland produce approximately 6-15 tons of the fruit every season. That is about 60 million of baskets of strawberries in total, Palaszczuk highlighted in her statement.
Queensland is the biggest producer of strawberry in the country with an estimated yearly revenue of more than A$130 million or $93 million. Prices or the crop have begun to drop across Australia with wholesale prices dropping almost 50 percent from its original prices.
The incident also happened at a time when it was peak season of strawberries in the country.
Australia's Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt reiterated Palaszczuk's statement, saying that the crime may not just injure and kill members of the public but may also be considered as a direct attack against the agriculture sector.
Indeed, different brands of Australian strawberries are already being pulled out from stores nationwide and in New Zealand. The Berry Obsession, Berry Licious, and Donnybrook Berries, Love Berry, Delightful Strawberries, and Oasis are believed to be affected.
Australia's Coles and Aldi supermarkets have removed the products from their shelves across the country.
New Zealand's Foodstuffs, which supply the majority of the grocery stores in the country, halted its shipment of Australian strawberries to its buyers for the meantime.
Woolworths in New Zealand had also halted its supply of the strawberries in its other chains. Woolworths is the parent company of Countdown, SuperValue and Woolworths and Fresh Choice.
The Australian reported that officials are also considering sabotage behind the incident.
Hunt said federal agency is already investigating and was tasked to identify whether there is supply chain weakness that needed to be addressed or systematic changes that require to be reviewed.
Anonymous sources who spoke with The Australian said strawberry farms in the country have poor record-keeping of casual and seasonal workers and this could hamper the investigation. The sources said there had been suspicious cases involving farmers and farm owners but police could no longer rack down former workers who may have grievances against their employers.
The Queensland government is already looking into ways on how they could provide financial assistance to strawberry growers who were affected by the incident.
