Consumers are finding that their favourite lockdown food is becoming much more expensive, with prices reaching around R90 per 10kg bag early in October.
With everyone still having to watch their budgets, consumers are worried because potato prices have increased by an average of 46% since June compared to 2019 prices.
The answer for the spike is simple: Covid-19 and a lot of cold weather in Limpopo, says Dr. André Jooste, CEO of Potatoes SA.
“According to seasonal trends, prices usually decrease between December and April, move sideways until August before they start to climb towards December. However, this year, due to the lockdown, prices fell to under R30 per 10kg bag during the hard lockdown, but started the upward trend already in June,” he says.
“In addition, a lot of potatoes moved around the markets instead of through them, because people were scared of Covid-19 and did not visit fresh produce markets, while the informal sector was initially banned from trading. Transport problems, when travel over provincial borders was prohibited, added to the issue.”
During the first weeks of lockdown, when all restaurants and informal traders were prohibited from trading, the extra stock was also sent to the markets. When restrictions were eased, they started to support the demand again.
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