Rare garlic price spikea global phenomenon?

CEBU, Philippines - Price fluctuations of basic commodities are considered normal but the unusual price increase of garlic recently has caused a stir in the marketplace.

The price of garlic has soared to as high as P280 per kilo from its normal price that ranges from P68 to P100.

Garlic retailers at the Carbon Market in Cebu City told The FREEMAN that it has been two months already since the high value prevailed in the market.

They have attributed the sudden increase to the high price of imported garlic they have purchased from mostly Chinese wholesalers, saying one sack weighing seven kilos would cost around P1,700 - P2,000.

“Mahal among baligya kay mahal man pud among palit ani sa wholesalers,” 24-year-old vendor Jucylou Narvasa said. “Ang giingon sa amo, nihit kuno ang supply sa imported garlic maong mahal.” (We have to increase our price because we bought it at a high price from the wholesalers. We were told that supply of imported garlic has been scarce)

Vendors have also observed that lately some buyers would just opt to buy onions, which now costs only P40 - P50 per kilo, and set aside garlic for the meantime mainly because of the price surge.

“Di mi makapa-ubos sa presyo kay kami pud alkansi,” (We can’t lower our prices or else we’ll incur losses) the vendor said.

For their part, interviewed shoppers shared they have been cutting their spending for garlic and that they would rather wait for the time when the product’s price returns to normal.

‘A global phenomenon’

However, the Department of Agriculture said that the current garlic price increase is not only happening in many Philippine markets but is also actually occurring in the international market, noting that it’s a global phenomenon.

The DA has suspected the overpricing is “the handiwork of unscrupulous traders to manipulate the price of the commodity in favor of their imported garlic shipments that have been smuggled into the country.”

Gerry Avila, DA-7 Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division chief, said they have also been surprised with the situation during their price monitoring.

He noted the agency could neither identify nor confirm yet whether groups of traders have tried to hoard the supply of the goods. But he has assured the department’s investigation to the issue is underway.

“Ato nang tan-awon sa overall scenario kay matod sa Manila office the increase may be because of the lower supply especially sa imported garlic,” (We have to look at the overall scenario because the Manila office said that the price increase could be because of the shortage of supply of imported garlic) Avila said in an interview.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala earlier said that price manipulation among traders may be happening in the market, this as the government has progressively reduced the import of garlic to give local farmers opportunities to sell their products.

Relative to that, DA’s Avila confirmed that there is enough supply of locally grown garlic in the country but people would normally patronize the imported ones. Region 3 is the major producer of garlic and onion.

The chief said the consumers have a wrong notion that the foreign variety is much larger than the local “bawang”.

The agribusiness division has asked the nation’s various garlic producers cooperatives to send no less than 50 trucks to deliver local garlic harvests which are priced relatively lower than the imported ones.

However, Avila noted locally produced garlic has a smaller demand from the consuming public.

So, to encourage Filipino consumers to buy local products, the department has sought the help of different cooperatives to make the goods available in the market. These include the Federation of Garlic Growers and Processor of Ilocos Provinces; Kapisanan ng Magbabawang sa Isla ng Mindoro; Batanes Province Garlic Growers; Nueva Vizcaya Garlic Growers; Iloilo Ahos Growers; and Region III Garlic Growers.

“In fact, ang atong local growers naghangyo gyod sa public nga mopalit sa ilang products,” the chief also added.

Central Visayas is not a major producer of garlic, he said, in fact most of its supply comes from many provinces in the country and others are imported from other countries.