With torrential rain submerging vast swaths of farmland in southern Taiwan over the past few days, prices of fruit and vegetables surged by 35 percent yesterday at traditional markets due to a decrease in supplies.
Consumers, however, can take advantage of the stable pricing policy guaranteed by hypermarket chains.
"The average wholesale price of vegetables climbed to the highest point at NT$27.51 per kg Thursday, up from the normal price of NT$20. Yesterday, the price inched down to NT$27 per kg as a result of a slight increase of supply from the south [of Taiwan]," Wang Jen-shiao (王振霄), chief secretary of Taipei Markets Administration Office, said during a phone interview yesterday.
Still, this represents a whopping 35 percent jump from the usual prices.
Wang said a total of 1,225 tonnes of vegetables were supplied to Taipei's 60 traditional wet markets, 11 wholesale markets and 30 public supermarkets which the Taipei Markets Administration Office manages -- down from the normal 1,300 tonnes provided before the flooding.
Among dozens of produce varieties, green onions, tomatoes and sweet peppers suffered the biggest price hikes, Wang said.
"Consumers should be prepared for the fact that vegetable prices will remain higher for the next two to four weeks before they fall back to normal levels. We suggest that they choose rootstocks to avoid paying extra," Wang said.
But there is no need to panic as, the government will release its reserve stocks to balance market prices if farm produce stays above NT$28 per kg for three consecutive days, he said.
According to the Council of Agriculture, the government has about 4,050 tonnes of vegetables in cold storages and might release 300 tonnes per day depending on market conditions.
As of 4pm yesterday, the nation recorded more than NT$1.86 billion in agricultural losses, including crop, livestock, aquatic and forest damages, the council said on its Web site.
Among these, crop losses amounted to NT$1.05 billion, with 23 percent of farmland damaged by heavy rains.
Although produce prices in traditional markets tend to fluctuate in line with changes in supplies and psychological factors, hypermarket chains are able to stabilize prices and quantities due to fierce competition, operators said.
"During this promotional period ending June 29, the price of green leafy vegetables will be kept at NT$9 per bunch, or 250 grams. This has been stated in the contracts signed with our suppliers on a yearly basis. Neither side can change the price," said Brenda Yen (
Supplies might be slightly affected, but she said the company would try its best to maintain the daily offering of 800 to 1,000 bunches in each store.
However, latecomers might go home empty-handed.
"We've noticed that these past two days, leafy vegetables were already sold out by the afternoon," she said.
Carrefour Taiwan, the nation's largest discount chain, also reported stable prices and normal supplies in its 34 stores nationwide.
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