The best and worst value produce leading into summer: cherries, strawberries, potatoes and broccoli

After a year of wildly unpredictable weather and soaring food prices, finding a good deal on fruit and vegetables is important heading into Christmas.

It seems this year you can still rely on your summer favourites for good value, but wild weather may mean some produce will be unattainable in both price and taste. In particular, it seems that the Christmas favourite, cherries, may not be in plentiful supply.

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Best value fruit and veg this summer:

Reliable summer favourites such as mangoes will be good value heading into December with the fruit going for about a dollar per mango. Shoppers can also pick up boxes of mangoes for as little as $20.

This was confirmed by Harris Farm Markets CEO, Tristan Harris, who says that you can expect fresh and affordable berries this season too, but mangoes are where the best value and taste is expected.

Even if you don't find yourself going through 20 mangoes, they can be frozen for later and used for smoothies or a healthy dessert.

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Tomatoes are also good value at the moment with Roma tomatoes going for as little as 60 cents each and cherry tomato punnets going for about $3.

Lebanese cucumbers are also plentiful and in season meaning that they can be found for just 70 cents each.

Summer berries such as raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are also expected to be good value going for around $3 per punnet.

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Fruit and veg to avoid this summer:

Rising costs and a bout of floods has wreaked havoc on certain produce, here are some fruits and vegetables to avoid this summer.

Broccoli has seemingly doubled in price with some supermarkets reporting costs anywhere from $4-$7 per kilo.

Similarly, Cherry, which is a Christmas favourite, is expected to be in short supply due to the incessant rains and floods. The cherries that are available for purchase may also not be the best quality.

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Quality of strawberries are also expected to suffer as the fruit does not do well in humid weather, particularly when packed into punnets.

Potatoes have also suffered thanks to the year's miserable weather with some states even beginning to report a shortage of the versatile vegetable. 

Lastly, lime prices have been volatile and largely unpredictable. Whilst the citrus fruit is usually on the dearer side of produce, current prices have been pushing upwards of $2.