Christmas prawn verdict: How to pay less and keep them fresh

With Christmas just around the corner it’s time to start planning out the annual holiday feed and no Aussie Christmas is complete without a few fresh prawns on the table. 

While the last two years have caused supermarket mayhem over fears the white spot disease that wiped out millions of prawns in Aussie farms would cause a short supply, this year is promising to be much better. 

The Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APF) said there will be no shortage of high-quality Aussie prawns in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so Aussies can rest easy knowing there’s plenty to go around. 

“There’s certainly plenty of stocks of fresh and frozen Australian prawns,” Warren Lewis, marketing committee chair at APF told Starts at 60.

Warren said there will be an abundance of Australian tiger prawns as well as banana prawns this season, which will be available at Coles and Woolworths as well as fish mongers around the country. 

“They probably won’t come out too much before Christmas, but there will be plenty around,” he added.

Prawn prices will likely be the same as last year — prices ranged from $20/kg to $35/kg during the festive peak — however Warren advises buying the week of or a few days before Christmas, as there’s usually a drastic drop in costs.

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Elsewhere, Gold Coast Tiger Farms currently have plenty of prawn stock available and more arriving before the festive season.

“We’re looking forward to a big Christmas for sure,” Alastair Dick, general manager at Gold Coast Tiger Farms told Starts at 60.

After the white spot out break, which was first discovered in November 2016, several prawn farms in Queensland were forced to shut down.

White spot is a highly contagious viral disease that is spread through the movement of infected animals or contaminated water, and affects crustaceans such as prawns, crabs, yabbies and lobsters.

Although not harmful to human health the devastating disease can cause mass mortality in prawn farms.

White spot has wiped out a huge portion of supplies and increased prawn prices dramatically in the past, however Alastair said we shouldn’t have anything to worry about this season.

“It’s certainly possible, but the farms in the south don’t supply the Christmas market, so [it] won’t have any effect,” he explained.

According to APF, 40 per cent of Aussie prawn consumption occurs over Christmas, with those eager for the freshest prawns lining up to the last minute on Christmas Eve to ensure they get the best stock for lunch the next day. 

While the succulent crustaceans don’t come cheap, a Coles spokesperson told Starts at 60 prices are down this year. 

“Right now it looks like there will be plenty of prawns coming through to Coles this Christmas. Prawn prices will likely be the same, or even lower than last year,” they said. “Prawns are set to become even more of a favourite on Australian Christmas tables, with 70 per cent of all prawns sold at Coles being in the three days leading up to Christmas.”

Fresh prawns can be refrigerated for up to three days, so you can get in early and avoid the last-minute Christmas rush. To keep them fresh, leave them in their shells, place them on a tray, cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the coldest part of the fridge.

Have you put in your Christmas order yet? What are your favourite prawns?