The drought does not subside and the prices of fruits and vegetables move, what about the smart list?

The prices of fruits and vegetables are having slight upward changes in some itemsat the same time that others move down.

Examples of the former are carrots ($79 per kilo), potatoes ($60 per kilo), sweet potatoes ($119 per kilo) and pumpkins ($50 per kilo).

Lettuce recently moved downward, from $60 to $50 per unit.

This was verified in the central fruit and vegetable stall La Curva, where you can see some of the latest watermelons that are arriving at $35 a kilo in this case.

John Samuelle

Post The Curve.

The merchant, Juan Marenco, stressed that the amount of purchases has not decreasedthat the intense heat has motivated people to resort to fresh foods, based on vegetables, preparing salads and that customers are helped with specific offers: two kilos of eggplant for $100, two kilos of zucchini for $50, and two kilos of plum tomatoes for $100, for example.

The drought does not subside and the prices of fruits and vegetables move, what about the smart list?

John Samuelle

Post The Curve.

The value scenario is understood to still be convenient for the consumer in almost all casesexcept specific items, as indicated.

There is, in general, an upward trend, but nothing has gone sky high, at least for the moment.

The reasons for the increases are varied. In some cases the seasonal supply runs out (as happens with peaches) and in others there is a lower supply due to the problems caused by the drought.

Natalia Ickowski, from Punto Fresco at the Montevideo Agricultural Market (MAM), estimates that in a month the effect of the drought that exists on the farms will be appreciated more strongly in the market.

In a few weeks, several prices will increase, given that the supply will decrease due to the difficulties that exist to start crops or that those that are underway develop.

The merchant clarified that there are alternatives for consumers of good products at good prices and mentioned zucchini as an example, a very versatile vegetable, which in that stall has an offer of $39 per kilo.

Various sources from the farming sector indicated that there is still an offer in various items of smaller caliber products, smaller, however with optimal quality in terms of nutrition and flavor.

Rising and falling prices

In the latest report from the Farmer’s Observatory on reference wholesale prices, upward and downward trends were observed:

Descents: bell peppers, lower quality aubergines, cherry tomato, zucchini, corn, chard, fig, pear and grape.

Increments: potatoes, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, superior quality Perita and round tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, lettuce, turnips, beets, hairless, melon, watermelon, lemon and orange.

In the case of the Smart List –A selection of seasonal fruits and vegetables that are at the ideal time for people to buy them, due to price, quality and flavor– valid until February 20the following are the reference values in four points of sale, based on a survey carried out by The Observer This Monday the 13th.

Fresh Point (Montevideo Agricultural Market)