LAU General Discussion, page-61

I can't be definitive (DYOR!) but LAU is a major carter of fruit and vegetables, so perhaps the below may explain it a little.

It's also extremely possible 'someone knows something' and while LAU's Annual Report may remain quite pleasing, perhaps it hasn't met lofty expectations, or the forward outlook isn't as good as was hoped.

This report from indaily.com.au was published on 8 June 2023, so a bit dated, but contains this paragraph:

"...Deloitte referred to Finder’s Cost of Living Report 2023 which found that 35 per cent of consumers are cutting back on the purchase of meat and seafoods, and 16 per cent were spending less on fruit and vegetables..."

There's this Queensland-focused report about vegetable growers from 'their ABC' on 29 June 2023:

"...Because of an oversupply of fruit and vegetables, Mr Piccolo is seeing price drops on produce as high as 70 per cent compared to winter last year.

"I was speaking to a guy who supplies us with beans, and he was basically saying that last year at this time, snow peas were $100 for 5 kilos, now this week they're $30," he said.

"Many products were at that level; broccoli, cauliflower, ginger was at huge levels, now it's a quarter of that.

"Avocadoes are very low, tomatoes even lower."

Mr Walker said he wasn't surprised to see demand dropping in the current economy.

"I think at the moment, people are probably saving dollars to pay for things and the first thing you stop buying is fresh food, unfortunately..."

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I'm not sure I agree the first thing 'you stop buying is fresh food', as I'd have thought restaurant meals and (even though trendy at present) expensive holidays by air would be some of the first items shoppers/consumers discard from their smartphone apps/purse strings, but a report I read from 2013 said that in the UK during a previous recession, spending on fresh foods dropped by 8.5 per cent (and inexplicably, spending on processed foods rose).

But as mentioned, there'll always be many who know more than me. My explanation above is unlikely to be the full picture.