Tough times with the drought in the soft commodities sector. Even worse for strawberry growers.

A producer at Thirlmere near Picton has, so to speak, an added thorn in his side.

His business is called Berrylicious. That's distinct from an entirely different entity called Berry Licious (note the space) in Queensland, named as one of the brands in which needles have been found embedded in berries.

Asaf Bar-Shalom, owner of this small pick-your-own operation, has seen his product used on a national TV news story to illustrate the problem faced by his (almost) namesake.

That's what you call collateral damage, although he's being pretty philosophical about it.