AMID the current steep prices of local onions, public market vendors anticipate a higher increase in prices by December of this year.
The average price of local onions at the Bankerohan Public Market as of Monday, November 21, would not go for less than P300 per kilogram (kg), with a number of vendors pricing their onions between P320/kg to P350/kg.
According to the vendors, their prices have shot up since the start of the “Ber-months” this year, which have steadily increased from around P200/kg to P300/kg. Before the Ber-months, the usual prices of onions were less than P100/kg.
"Ber-months ra gyod siya nitaas. Nitaas siya sa P200 hangtod sa nag hinay-hinay abot og P300. Kada kompra namo, nagataas (It really increased during the Ber-months. It jumped to P200 and slowly reached P300. every time we buy wholesale, the prices have increased)," a vendor at Bankerohan Market said.
The vendors added that they are expecting to increase their prices again by December, similar to what happened in 2021. “Murag kada-December, mag taas siya. Last year sa December, niabot og P500 per kilo (It seems that the prices increase every December. Last year it was P500 per kilo).”
The vendors said the higher prices were driven by the lack of imported onions from other countries like China and India, thus the remaining supply is the local variety of onions which could be expensive. Some mentioned that suppliers are limiting how much they sell to retailers.
Imported onions were also significantly cheaper.
“Pag local, mahal. Kapag pumasok ang imported, katulad ng India, China, Thailand, P60/kilo (The local variety is expensive but if there is an imported supply from India, China, or Thailand, it’s usually P60/kilo),” a vendor said.
Another said, “Grabe ang pag taas kay nihit kaayo. Karon, ang paabot, nihit pud kaayo. Ang isa ka-tao dili ka makakuha og daghan. Among ginakuha gani kay tig-two sacks na lang (It really increased because the supply is limited. Vendors cannot buy a lot. Even us, we only purchase two sacks at most).”
Because of this, Davao City consumers are discouraged to buy a kilo or even half a kilo of onions. The vendors said consumers resort to buying one to two pieces of onions.
By January, the vendors said prices may start to decline and return to normal prices of around P100 or less per kilo. ICM