The price of watermelon is squeezing the household budget of Aussie families.
The summer favourite is being sold at Coles for $4.50 a kilo, which makes an eight-kilogram whole fruit about $36.
Meanwhile, Woolworths is selling the fruit for $3.90 per kilo, while the whole fruit costs $31, with prices varying slightly from state to state.
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Suppliers are putting the high prices down to a shortage of the fruit caused by irregular weather patterns in the Northern Territory.
Prices are expected to come down as supply increases when more fruit starts to arrive from northern Queensland.
According to experts, while watermelons are pricier right now, they taste better.
The recent hot and dry weather has impacted the flavour and little water in the fruit makes for a sweeter taste.
There are cheaper fruit options in supermarkets at the moment, with some berries going for a bargain.
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 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."
Meanwhile, 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."