Australia’s best-value fruit and veg for August: golden nugget mandarins live up to their name

Mandarins are good value if you are keeping an eye on grocery prices; the golden nugget variety in particular has a ‘cult following’ among fruit enthusiasts, says Elliott Cafarella, co-owner of Melbourne fruit shop Pompello. Photograph: Brent Hofacker/Alamy

If you shop for fruit and vegetables somewhere other than the major supermarkets this August, it is likely you will find cheaper prices. But there is also a bonus: grocers might have more interesting fresh produce.

Elliott Cafarella, who co-owns his family’s Melbourne fruit shop, Pompello, still remembers last year’s waterlogged produce. But he says this season the winter sun is keeping farmers happy.

Cauliflower remains one of the best buys at about $3.50 a head; and broccoli, which surged in price last year, is close behind at about $3 a kilo in supermarkets. Romanesco, a brassica with a hypnotic fractal pattern and nuttier flavour than broccoli, is also worth seeking out this August.