Record strength El Niño could mean bigger supermarket bills for Australians, experts warn

Predicted hot and dry weather in growing areas in eastern Australia identified as ‘one of the key issues’ that will affect food prices over next 12 months Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The most severe El Niño weather event on record threatens to push food prices higher this year, experts say, piling pressure on households already struggling with the post-pandemic spike in grocery bills and complicating the Reserve Bank’s efforts to bring inflation back under control. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast El Niño will peak in late spring or summer and “reach levels above the warmest observed since reliable records began in 1950”. Michael Harvey, a consumer food analyst at Rabobank research, said the predicted hot and dry weather in key growing areas in eastern Australia was “clearly one of the key issues that will have an impact on food pricing over the next 12 months”.

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