Tears! Smuggled and overpriced Philippine onions wreak havoc on trade
The Philippine onion is trending for its inflated retail price.
"My wallet is like an onion, opening it is making me cry..."
People are definitely not finding this onion a-peeling after a major price hike has caused them to become extremely expensive.
In the Philippines, onions are now more expensive than meat.
Read More: South Africans share how much their groceries cost monthly
Onion is a staple of the Southeast Asian nation’s local cuisine, which is often paired with garlic as a base of many dishes. The country’s average monthly demand for the vegetable is around 17,000 metric tons.
In order to keep up with this demand, the country will have to import 22,000 metrics tons of the veggie.
As of January 9, onions per pound are going for R184,69 ($10.88/600 pesos) - how bizarre is that!
Experts report that the cost of a kilogram of onions is greater than the minimum wage for a day’s work in the Philippines.
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So what does this mean for South Africa?
Onions are produced in almost all the provinces of South Africa, mainly in the Western Cape (Ceres), Northern Cape, North West, and Limpopo province.
Read the latest profile of the South African onion market here.
The onion industry operates in a deregulated environment where the prices are determined by the forces of demand and supply and there are no restrictions in the marketing on onions. The industry uses fresh produce markets, informal market, processors and direct selling to wholesalers and retailers as marketing channels. Onions are also exported to other countries through export agents and marketing companies. South Africa also imports onions from other countries.
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