Fresh fruit, vegetable prices skyrocket in Turkey amid harsh winter conditions

ISTANBUL

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The price of fresh fruit and vegetables has soared dramatically across Turkey as harsh winter conditions hit the country. 

In some products, the prices even skyrocketed by 400 percent. 

According to sector players, producers do not win from this unusual price moves, which are caused by some speculative actions by a few middlemen.

Burhan Er, the head of the Vegetable Gardens Commissioners and Tradesmen Federation, suggested that “some people’s opportunistic moves” led to surging fresh fruit and vegetable prices.

“We are seeing a sort of monopolization in the market, as only three or four people set the prices. There are increases in prices of around 300 to 400 percent. Peppers are sold for 7 to 8 liras per kilogram in some places, but for 10 to 15 liras in others,” Er said.

“There is a huge problem with transporting the products due to heavy snowfall. For instance, some of my trucks are stuck on the roads in the inner Aegean region as they cannot move. But such incidents should not lead to highly speculative rises in prices,” he added. 

One agricultural producer told state-run Anadolu Agency that although a cauliflower is sold for 6 or 7 liras in the market, producers earn less than 3 liras per product.

A fruit and vegetable commissioner told the Doğan News Agency that they faced serious problems with transporting goods. 

“Heavy rain falls and floods have hit agricultural products in the Mediterranean region, Turkey’s main fresh fruit and vegetable producer. We cannot carry the products due to heavy snowfall now,” he said.

Marketers from Istanbul’s main fresh fruit and vegetable wholesaler market in the Bayrampaşa district told daily Hürriyet that there is not any shortage in the products, but they cannot find retailers to buy and sell them due to transportation problems. 

“Only representatives from big supermarkets come and buy our products. As street bazaars cannot open across Istanbul due to the heavy snow, small and medium retailers do not buy products now. If these conditions continue, we will stop buying products from producers and middlemen,” one said.