The head of the Agricultural Market Development Support Department at the Institute of Agro-Resources and Economics, Inguna Gulbe, assessed food prices in Latvia and explained why it is better not to stock up on potatoes, writes nra.lv.
“Unfortunately, it cannot be said that there is any significant decrease in prices. However, if we compare with last year, by the end of this year, prices for many groups of products are lower than they were last year — for sugar and so on. But there are also groups of products whose prices have increased significantly, for example, coffee, cocoa, and some dairy products — butter and cheese have become more expensive,” said Inguna Gulbe on TV24.
The reasons are very different. In one case, it’s the climatic conditions: for example, in the areas where coffee is grown, there was a drought, and the harvest did not increase. In the case of cocoa, there were both rains and droughts in different regions, which is why the price has risen. However, at the moment, it can be said that we have relatively low prices for vegetables, which is good from the consumers' perspective, but very bad from the producers' perspective, Gulbe explained.
This year, it was difficult to plant potatoes — the soil was hard, then flooded, and then dried out. The summer turned out to be unsuccessful for field crops and vegetables, and the autumn period with heavy rains did not allow for the harvest to be collected — it stood in water for a long time, and the root crops became infected with rot, so the vegetables do not keep well. Because of this, everyone who grew vegetables is trying to sell them as quickly as possible because they will not be able to store them for long, and accordingly, prices for vegetables are low.
“Therefore, people should be told: it is not worth buying potatoes in such large quantities now to last until April — it is not a fact that they will keep that long,” Gulbe said.
