According to Cendas FMV, at the end of November $80.13 was needed to make approximately 50 hallacas. If you add the pork leg, grapes and ham bread to the equation, the cost rises to $244.32. On the street, depending on whether it is a stall or a restaurant, the prices of the Christmas dish can vary from $4 to $25.
In street stalls, restaurants and even bakeries, hallacas, pork sandwiches and Christmas dishes are already offered as part of the regular offering, but sales have not been as significant as in previous years due to the crisis, merchants and store owners admit.
A single hallaca can cost between two and six dollars, depending on the type of establishment and its location. The “Christmas dishes”, most with hallaca, pernil, chicken or hen salad and ham bread, can range from $4 to $25.
In the city center, where sales continue almost all year round, the merchants keep the plate – hallaca, chicken salad, bread and a glass of juice – at three dollars. María Libre, who sells between the corners of Madrices and La Marrón, comments that sales have been “regular, not very good but we hope it improves.”
Libre, who has been selling hallacas in that place for five years from February to December, says that the good months begin from October 15 to December 31, when the sale continues.
Regarding the cost of making his dish, he says that “everything has increased, the ingredients, everything… Right now they are a little more expensive in bolivars than in dollars, but the price varies a lot depending on the place.”
For Yanisbel, who also sells between the corners of Madrices and La Marrón from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, «sales have been busy, thank God. This month was good for us, they have sold out,” he says.
Regarding the price of the products, he comments that there has been variation but it has not significantly affected his business. “With the dollar issue, (we have been) there more or less, but we continue working and it doesn’t affect us much yet,” says Yanisbel. Like other saleswomen, she hopes that sales will improve as the season progresses.
Patricia is one of the many diners who recommends Yanisbel’s hallacas. «It’s great, I recommend it. Good, nice and cheap, with the three B’s,” he says of his first hallaca that he eats in the year, while sharing it with his daughter after a morning of errands.
Patricia admits that, due to the situation, she doubts that she will be able to make hallacas this year, so “I prefer to buy them already made.”
*Read also: Inflation in Venezuela puts the meat of the hallacas in check
According to Cendas FMV, at the end of November they needed $80.13 to make approximately 50 hallacas. If you add the pork leg, grapes and ham bread to the equation, the cost rises to $244.32. The minimum wage has been 130 bolivars for three years, although the majority of public employees receive a series of bonuses that raise the “comprehensive salary”, as the Executive calls it, up to 160 dollars.
The merchants from the city center like Yanisbel and María also make a living from orders. The majority receive orders two or one day in advance directly at their stalls or by telephone, they quote and deliver to the customer the amount they want for their parties or personal consumption.
One block further down, in Plaza El Venezolano, a group of entrepreneurs requested their permits and set up their awning, chairs and tables since mid-November to sell the Christmas dish, sweets, nuts and ingredients such as olives and pickles.
This year, sales are led by the “Christmas grill dish” which consists of a hallaca, smoked chorizo, barrel-cooked pork, bread and chicken salad. It costs $4 or 1,200 bolivars. «It’s going to sound cliché, but everyone sells hallaca. Every year we innovate and personalize our dish,” says Cristina Hurtado, one of the dozen women who rented the stand.
«Sales have not exploded as we would like but we have had good receptivity. Starting in December, sales increased a little more,” says Hurtado, who sells along with the rest from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
The price of the products, so far, has not affected the price of the dish, although they have found a variation from week to week. «When we started we had the (banana) leaf at 150 bolivars per kilo. At the beginning of December it was already at Bs 280. The pickles vary depending on where you buy them, the meats always vary but we try to get them a little cheaper. If it’s wholesale, it’s a little cheaper,” explains Hurtado.
At the Safari Bakery, located on the side of Plaza Candelaria, they have been selling hallacas and different dishes with Christmas food since the beginning of November and they hope to keep them until the second week of January. Oswaldo Carmona, manager of the place, comments that everything will depend on demand.
The price of a hallaca is $6 and the complete Christmas plate, which also includes pernil, ham bread and chicken salad, costs $18. “This is a tradition here at Safari, since the season begins it is exhibited,” he says.
While at the “El Padrote” pork sandwich stall, one of the saleswomen says that sales have been good since the beginning of December. They can sell up to four hams a day, an average of 25% and 300 ham sandwiches.
The sandwich is four dollars. They also carry about two rolls for $5. The seller explains that the prices of both the price of the pork and the rest of the sandwich ingredients, especially the bread, tomato and some sauces, have increased during the year.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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