Strawberries may become increasingly hard to find during and after Christmas 2022, with the hiccup being attributed to bad weather conditions that destroyed many crops in New Zealand's Auckland and Waikato regions. An immense amount of rainfall has led to unexpected problems as growers are estimating that they've lost "more than half" of their crops, according to News Hub.

According to the FDA, some fresh fruit in the U.S. is sourced from other countries to keep up with demands from customers. However, the strawberry shortage shouldn’t affect American buyers too much, as the berries are grown abundantly in states like California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington, according to the USDA.

While the shortage could potentially lead to higher prices, United Fresh President Jerry Prendergast offered a positive update, saying, "What we are seeing is [a] new way of growing strawberries now ... there's a lot of growers starting to transition across to undercover crops […] fruit that was grown under cover is actually coming out in really good condition."