05/10/2020 - 17:12
Clarín.com
Society
"It is very expensive
.
"
It is not a reflection of whoever buys, but a warning from the greengrocer.
Before warning that a kilo of round tomatoes costs
150 pesos right
now at his post anchored inside a Chinese supermarket in Villa Urquiza the greengrocer adjective: it is not known whether to deter or to cushion the blow.
Half a block away, in a greengrocer with more variety and on the street, the price is
180 pesos
.
At the greengrocer closest to the Miter railway station that runs through the neighborhood, which only sells by the kilo, tomatoes are priced at
165
.
It is the same price that the Central Market of Buenos Aires publishes on its Social Commitment to Supply website.
And it is up to
triple
what the tomato cost a year ago, according to the survey of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires.
On the websites of the large supermarket chains, a kilo of round tomatoes is not available for less than
154 pesos
and reaches
199
, and the expert quotes
between 179 and 219 pesos
per kilo.
In a greengrocer in Barracas, this Monday, the tomato was paid between $ 150 and $ 160 per kilo.
In some neighborhoods and supermarkets it already exceeded $ 200. Photo: Andrés D'Elia
"It is a cyclical rise of
around 20%
in the last three weeks", describes Mariano Winograd, fruit and vegetable consultant and president of the Argentine headquarters of the NGO 5 a day, which promotes the consumption of fruits and vegetables.
A survey by the NGO Consumidores Libres showed that during September the increase in tomato perita was
32.50%
: it jumped from $ 120 to $ 159. It was the highest increase of all the products measured and tripled the average of the fruit and vegetables category (
10.20%
), which was in turn the most expensive.
Central Market operators consulted by
Clarín
maintained that in that entity no one controls any price and it is impossible to compete with the clandestine markets of organizations such as the Union of Land Workers (UTT), which only pay monotax and that they lie by saying that they sell products agroecological.
According to these sources, who preferred to keep their name in reserve, it is an
unfair competition
that means that high costs are passed on only to those who operate under the Central's sphere.
"Tomato production in the north of the country, which is done in greenhouses, is already coming to an end. At this time it is time for the production near Buenos Aires, in the La Plata area, to begin to enter the greenhouses. There were two very hot weeks, that stressed the plantation, and at the same time, a very atypical cold came, something that stops the growth of the plants. At the same time, the quarantine made people cook much more at home than in no other time, and that of course impacts demand ", Winograd describes.
"We are talking about a seasonal product, so there may be
lags
linked to the production cycle. This week the most popular classes are going to restrict tomato consumption due to the temporary rise. This stagnation, added to when the production of La Plata is surely
it will lower the price by 20%, 30% or 40%
", adds the consultant.
And it adds that, along with this rise, products such as strawberries, corn, asparagus and blueberries fell "due to the seasonal nature of the sector."
Asked about the price change between October 2019 and this year, Winograd highlights two issues: "On the one hand, a comparison must be made that covers different weeks of different months because the variation of the weather can always have an impact. At the same time, the The dollar affects various production costs, such as seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals and, although more laterally, fuel. Historically, a kilo of tomato cost a dollar in the greengrocer, but what dollar? "
The sources that buy in the Central Market to sell in retail outlets that
Clarín
consulted
highlighted the importance of both the market itself and the Secretary of Commerce controlling prices.
"Nahuel Levaggi, coordinator of the UTT at the national level, came to preside over the Central Market in March as a result of the political decision of the Fernández government to ally itself with the sectors that go against the supposed poisoning oligarchy, something that is still He continues saying without reflecting on how the big cities managed to stock up perfectly in the middle of the quarantine, unaware that there are family producers and SMEs that do this work. In this context, he established a list of guaranteed and suggested prices: neither he nor any president of the Central Market they can guarantee a price, it is fallacious. Only the offer can fix a price ", analyzes Winograd.
Last Friday, the Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Operators of the Central Market of Buenos Aires (COMaFru) released a statement that "strongly repudiates the violent, discriminatory and press censorship actions that (...) Nahuel Levaggi unloaded on the press worker Raúl Ferrero, head editor of the newspaper 'El vocero argentino' ".
According to the text, Levaggi rebuked the journalist for his notes and threw copies of the newspaper in a garbage can in the market.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood greengrocer warns: "Tomatoes are very expensive."
At least for a few days.
DD