Significant drop in price of tomatoes

A drop in the price of fresh produce, especially tomatoes has been reported by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP).

According to the BFAP’s Food Inflation brief, the price of tomatoes in South Africa dropped by 23% in June, from May.

Traders say the price of vegetable fluctuations depends on the supplier.

With food prices soaring in general, the lower price of some fresh produce comes as a relief.

The BFAP report states that food prices continued to move lower in June, from May this year.

The price of tomatoes, considered to be a household staple, showed a downward trajectory in June as supply exceeded demand. The decrease is the result of this year’s good production conditions.

Some tomato traders in Bloemfontein also attest to the lower prices.

“The price of tomatoes now on the market is very reasonable. If you have R300 or R500 you can buy many boxes of tomatoes. Prices are low for now, however you never what’s going to happen in a couple of month’s time. It depends on where you shop. We don’t really know what causes the price to drop but at the moment its a good time to buy.”

According to agricultural economist, Johnny van der Merwe, tomato prices are expected to decrease further in August.

Bigger volumes of tomatoes

Van der Merwe says because of the cold front, bigger volumes of tomatoes are expected in the same month.

“Tomato prices are really sensitive to changes in the seasonality of its production. We have seen this year that prices went up significantly during April, when we usually see a high demand prices that are traded just between R13 and R14 per kilogram. However, since May and June we have seen prices coming down significantly which is based on the volumes entering into the market.”

Experts say considering the month of June in isolation, indications of a slowdown and normalisation of prices over the next couple of months are on the cards.