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Strawberries - Source: ONE News -
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Strawberry crops have been ruined by heavy rain and drought.
One Auckland grower has reported a 50% fall in production when a few weeks ago he was expecting a bumper season.
Phelan Pirrie, general manager of Best Berries, said five days of rain, on the back of a drought, had "wiped out" production.
His cool store is usually full of crates containing punnets of strawberries, but since last week it has been nearly empty.
"We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars that we would normally turn over in this week but we're not," he told ONE News.
Auckland retailers said they had been warned by suppliers to expect a strawberry shortage.
Shoppers ONE News spoke to said they would pay more if necessary, with one woman saying "Christmas is not Christmas without strawberries".
