It Might Be More Expensive To Get Vegetables Soon. Here’s Why

I believe everyone’s news feed has been flooded with news of how the weather turned cold the past two weeks.

Now that’s old news, seeing as to how the temperature seems to have found its way home.

Apart from “floor tiles exploding”, as part of the aftermath of the monsoon season, vegetable prices are also going up.

Told you to enjoy the cool weather while it lasted; it’s now time to face the nastiness.

What caused prices to rise

According to The New Paper, the unstable rainfall and dip in temperature has adversely affected the supply and quality of vegetables from our neighbour Malaysia.

Mr Jerry Tan, assistant secretary of the Singapore Fruits and Vegetables Importers and Exporters Association, said: “Prices of vegetables like choy sum and bok choy have jumped almost 80 per cent to 100 per cent as production levels dipped.”

According to Mr Tan, Singapore imports half of her vegetables from Malaysia. The increase in costs were borne by wholesalers in the last week.

However, he also added that the association members should stay competitive in order to retain importers who tend to source for lower prices.

Which means he’s urging them to keep the price as low as possible; good news for me and you.

It is known to be the worst rainy season for the past thirty years.

In Malaysia

Suppliers in Malaysia are seeing a difference in their yields.

Pahang: normal temperature in Cameron Highlands is about 18 degrees but it has dropped to 13 recently, adversely affecting the major vegetable-farming region.

Johor: farmers see a 30% drop in yield and are raising prices of vegetable up by 50%to 100%

Flowers too

Flowers from Cameron Highlands, in particular chrysanthemums, are also in short supply.

The chairman of the Fresh Flowers Wholesalers Association (Singapore) explained that: “There has been (not much) sunlight for three weeks so the flowers don’t blossom, and even if they do, the quality is not as good.”

As well as seafood

The chairman of the Singapore Fish Merchant’s General Association, Mr Lee Boon Cheow, said that squid and red garoupa have increased in price, while the rest seems to not be affected as much.

Mr Alan Tan, who owns Ming Kee Live Seafood Restaurant, said it has been difficult to get pomfret and red garoupa.

“My suppliers said I might be getting fewer pomfrets than what I asked for this year,” he said.

Supermarket vs Merchants

Giant and Cold Storage did not see a huge increase in price as they source their fresh produce from a variety of suppliers.

On the other hand, smaller merchants like food vendors may have troubles due to the smaller amount that they are buying.

Bet you didn’t think about this when you complained about the rain huh?

Since you’re here, why not watch a video about a guy who lodged a Police report here in Singapore because he was friendzoned? Seriously. Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

Read Also

• S’pore ‘Winter’ Supposedly Coming to an End Today (15 Jan), But It’s Still Raining
• Everything About the Pipe Leak That Occured in Somerset Road This Morning, Not Bukit Batok
• S’porean Loanshark Called ‘Sunny’ Threatened A Maid & Her Employers

Do you love writing? Do you want a platform to showcase your works? Goody Feed is looking for part-time writers to join the team! Click here to find out more!

Featured image:Bloomberg