Idyllic growing conditions have led to fresh fruit and vegetable prices dropping 25 percent compared to this time last year - and they are now at prices not seen for several years.

United Fresh New Zealand president Jerry Prendergast says for the past 10 months, apart from a late summer drought in Horowhenua, growing conditions around the country have been "incredible".

Rain and warm sunshine have arrived "enqueue".

"We're seeing again the ability to plant vegetables, and to harvest vegetables in conditions that have been superb," he says.

Yields have been massive and the normal losses in a system where plants may die off, just have not happened.

The result is a massive over supply and lower prices.

"I can assure you, if you're a consumer, it's a consumer's market, in terms of the value.

"I've not seen the value of fruit and vegetables, in particular the green leaf vegetables and root vegetables, I've never seen the value at the levels that we are seeing now, since pre-Covid - perhaps five years plus. We are seeing values that are 20 to 25 per cent less than this time last year."

But he says unfortunately for the growers, all this extra produce doens't mean they are making more money.

"I wish I could say they did, but they're growing at below the cost of production. If you're harvesting cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, lettuce, when you're producing and harvesting them like you are at the moment, for the value returns, it's actually below the cost of production.

"So it doesn't start to etch out. If you had a reasonable price point it would start to kick in for you. But right now it's very tough for growers."

He says growers have the choice to not plant, but that was not a good option.

"The reality is you might also see some increase in prices so you can't afford to take the gamble to say 'I'm not going to plant' and hope that your business is going to survive. You need to have a programme of planting, you've got customers with expectations."

Growers have had to swing with the flow of supply and demand, but Jerry says what is needed is more people eating vegetables because despite the lower prices, consumers are not buying more.

-RNZ.