South African consumers will have to pay considerably more for carrots and onions this November. According to agricultural economist Dr Johnny van der Merwe, chances are that prices will only stabilize early in 2023. Van der Merwe is the managing director of agricultural market trends analysis company AMT. He says elevated prices are on the back of lower vegetable volumes and a higher consumer demand.
Carrot prices, specifically, tend to peak over December, explains Van der Merwe: "[This is] usually due to a higher consumer demand. So, we are expecting carrots to get expensive over December, especially considering the low volumes [of carrots coming in the market] at the moment."
At R10.21 per kilogram, onions are trading at much higher levels than a year before. This, says Van der Merwe, is a new record and a no less than 264% higher than a year ago. Class one onions are being sold at R10.51 per kilogram.
"This is due to low volumes and we expect this price to stay on high level towards the end of the year. The price for consumers will stay on a high level as well," he says.
[ R1 = €0.06 ]
Source: foodformzansi.co.za