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The price of watermelon is squeezing the household budget of Aussie families.
The summer favourite is being sold at Coles for $4.50 a kilogram, which makes an eight kilo whole fruit about $36.
Meanwhile, Woolworths is selling the fruit for $3.90 per kilogram, while the whole fruit costs $31, with prices varying slightly from state to state.
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Melons Australia executive officer Johnathon Davey said the industry had experienced several production issues this year, which resulted in lower supply in the main growing regions.
"Supply will pick up in the next few weeks as other regions start picking melons," Davey said.
"Quality is good and at these prices it is still good value compared to other summer fruits."
Berries are going for a bargain in supermarkets at the moment.
A punnet of strawberries at the big supermarkets is $2 while blueberries are about $3 a punnet.
Shoppers would be lucky to find stone fruits like nectarines and peaches on the shelves currently, but the summer fruits are just around the corner.
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A Woolworths spokesperson said the company paid its farmers the market price for their produce "which can be affected by weather and seasonality".
"We're in the cross-over between growing regions from the Northern Territory to northern Queensland but there's still quality fresh watermelons available," the spokesperson said.
"However, our farmers have told us that they've got a great crop on the way just in time for summer, so our customers can expect to see an improvement in the coming weeks.
"We're committed to delivering quality Australian fruit and vegetables to our customers at great value, and when in-season produce is in high supply we work hard to pass those savings on to our customers."
Meanwhile, a Coles spokesperson said the supermarket expects to see a strong season on quality and an abundant volume of Australian stone fruit and mangoes in the coming months.
"There is plenty to look forward to as we come into summer," the spokesperson said.
"As the weather starts to improve, we know our customers are looking for great value fruit to enjoy.
"We have some great specials for our customers at the moment on tomatoes, cucumbers, berries and citrus."
