Rising potato prices cause for concern
The price of potatoes has reached a new high and this popular ingredient of the daily diet of most South Africans, and in particular the lesser privileged households, may soon become unaffordable for some consumers.
LIMPOPO – The price is 7% higher than last year at the same time, Dr Johnny van der Merwe, managing director of the agricultural information group Agrimark Trends (AMT), said in his weekly YouTube video that tracks the market prices for fresh produce in South Africa.
According to Van der Merwe, potato prices in South Africa became more than 20% more expensive over the past week due to a low supply of this staple vegetable that may be attributed to the fact that Limpopo, a major producing region of potatoes for this time of the year, experienced icy weather in July that resulted in frost that left some crops damaged.
According to AMT, potato prices are still on the rise and are over 20% more expensive as farmers are lifting fewer potatoes and potatoes delivered to markets decreased by 14% last week.
“Last week, the average weekly price for the staple vegetable climbed by as much as 22% to R66,43 for a 10kg bag and potatoes delivered to markets by farmers decreased sharply, by 14%, Van der Merwe said and added that the recent frost in Limpopo was an added blow to the prices of potatoes which had already been on the rise. “In June, prices for a 10kg bag soared by as much as 12% to R56,53, as the industry was still recovering from heavy rainfall in January and cold weather conditions in the northern parts of the country.
“Because of the rain that we had this year, the winter prices for potatoes are the highest up till now,” Pieter van Zyl, AMT’s regular market analyst, is quoted to have said.
Van Zyl said potato volumes delivered to markets last week were the lowest since 2018 and that:
“Not enough potatoes were lifted the previous Friday and over the weekend. It shows you what an empty market floor can do when people need to buy a staple food, in this case, potatoes,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of AL 3 Boerdery, CT van der Merwe offered his own perspective on the price of potatoes.
“Yes, the frost had an influence on the price of potatoes, but that is not the only reason. As a result of the lower volumes of potatoes produced and delivered by farmers from the Free State and the Northern Cape at a stage when Limpopo’s potatoes came on the market during June to August, Limpopo’s main contribution arrived at a much emptier market.
“The fact that the frost decreased production, made this commodity scarcer and created the higher prices,” he explained.
