The country where onions are more expensive than meat

Camilla Veras Mota @cavmota From BBC News Brasil in São Paulo

Posted on 01/14/2023 12:58 PM

The onion kilo went from US$11 in the Philippines

As in many Latin American countries, garlic and onions are central to Filipino cuisine. The habit of sautéing with both ingredients dates back to the period of Spanish colonization, which lasted between 1521 and 1898 and eventually influenced the country’s cuisine.

However, for almost a month, onions have been a luxury item for Filipinos. Literally: after a price increase, it cost more than beef and chicken.

A kilo of red and white onions this week reached 600 Philippine pesos (about R$55.44); the whole chicken, 220 pesos (R$20).

The value is above the daily minimum wage in the Philippines, which is around 500 pesos (R$46) depending on the industry.

With the rise in prices, the country’s authorities even confiscated contraband of the vegetable. In one of them, sacks of onions worth 17 million pesos (R$1.58 million) were intercepted in a shipment from China claiming to be clothing in early January.

On social media, Filipinos are voicing outrage against the government, which they see as complicit in the current situation, and in good spirits.

“Bye chocolates, hello onions. The onion is emerging as one of the best travel souvenirs to give a Filipino as a gift,” said a Filipino residing in the United States in a post on Twitter.

“We bring onions instead of chocolate from Saudi Arabia trip,” wrote another.

Goodbye chocolates, hello onions ????. Sibuyas has the potential to be the best pasalubong in the Philippines. pic.twitter.com/38GR9aQMiu

—Jv Villar? (@_jvvillar) January 5, 2023

We bring onions from KSA instead of the traditional chocolates. KSA imports onions ????, price is cheaper pic.twitter.com/S1a1Xkn8oj

Sebastian Ranas (@sebastos_p) January 10, 2023

Also on a trip to the United States, another user shared a picture of a jar of onion powder: “Since onions turned gold in the Philippines I’ve wanted to buy these to give away but I’ve already been to five supermarkets and they are all sold out. I asked a shop assistant and she said ‘ah, Filipino tourists bought a lot of these’, I wonder why…”

Since onions are like gold in the Philippines, I wanted to buy them to take home and give as gifts. But I’ve visited five supermarkets and all stocks are gone. I asked a shop assistant what happened and she said, “Oh, the Filipino tourists bought a lot. I ask myself why …???? pic.twitter.com/i351ri7kor

— LADLADofficial?????????? (@LADLADofficial) January 12, 2023

Nicholas Mapa, a resident of the city of Manila, capital of the Philippines, says some restaurants have even stopped selling products containing onions the onionring portions of hamburgers, for example, have disappeared from some menus.

“They can’t properly price their produce or they just can’t deliver onions,” he said in an email interview with BBC News Brasil.

Some, like chef Jam Melchor, founder of the movement to preserve the Philippines’ culinary heritage, have been looking for replacements. He has resorted to a native variety of onion called “Lasona”, which tastes different from the traditionally used varieties and is very small, the size of a grape.

“Both restaurants and the general population have suffered from the situation. 600 pesos is an expensive amount, so we’re trying to make the best of what we have among the alternatives,” he told the report.

“Onions are very important to the local cuisine. They go into almost every dish we make here. They are a crucial ingredient in any Filipino cuisine,” he adds.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmwDMFsp0e2/

Why did onions become so expensive in the Philippines?

Map lists at least two factors that explain the price increase.

Forecasts by the Department of Agriculture released in August suggested the country would produce fewer onions than estimated demand by the end of 2022. However, the volume was worse than expected: the Philippines was hit by a super typhoon between August and September. further damage crops.

“Unfortunately, the import came late, only after the prices had skyrocketed and very shortly before the harvest time, i.e. in February,” sums up the economist.

In the first week of January, the government approved the import of around 22 million tonnes of onions to try to normalize supply and contain prices.

Getty Images Street food in Cebu: Spanish influence brings onion and garlic to many dishes

The delay was a serious failing by the current government, according to experts like Fermin Adriano, who was once an adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture.

In his estimation, knowing that the product would be lacking in the domestic market, the government should have ordered imports of sufficient volume to ensure the food security of the Filipino people to meet the supply at least with the expected requirement.

In a column in the Manila Times, he recalled that Senator Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos, the sister of the country’s President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., criticized the Agriculture Department report released in August, saying there were malicious people in the folder want to give the false impression that the product is in short supply in order to benefit from any importation.

ROLEX DELA PENA/EPAEFE/REX/Shutterstock Along with garlic, onions are a staple of Filipino cuisine

Bongbong management

Many Filipinos on social media are linking the farm sector’s disorganized leadership to the fact that the controversial Ferdinand Marcos Junior, known as “Bongbong” and elected president last year, appointed himself agriculture minister with no experience. . .

He is the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who led a brutal regime in the Philippines in the 1970s and 80s that was overthrown by widespread popular protests that forced the family to flee the country in 1986.

Bongbong returned to the country in 1991 and pursued a political career. He served as governor, congressman and senator before being elected president. Part of Marcos’ campaign was built to sell voters the idea that the dictatorship was a “golden age” a phrase many on social media used wryly, jokingly writing that the “gold” , which the politician referred to as the price of onions.

ROLEX DELA PENA/EPAEFE/REX/Shutterstock Hurricane that hit the Philippines in mid2022 also impacted production

The third most produced vegetable in the world

Cindy van Rijswick, fruit and vegetable analyst at Rabobank, says the Philippines has traditionally been an onion importing country meaning the amount produced internally is usually insufficient to meet demand.

This requirement fluctuates greatly: in 2011 it was 5 million kilograms, she explains, and in 2016 it was a whopping 132 million kilograms.

“The country usually buys from India, China and even Holland depending on price and availability,” the Hollandbased analyst tells BBC News Brasil.

One of the reasons is the fact that most of the crops grown in the country are onion varieties with a short shelf life due to the physical and climatic conditions. This is unlike some regions in northern Europe and North America, where onions can be stored for up to a year under the right conditions, she adds.

The onion’s popularity extends far beyond Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the Philippines. The expert claims that the list of countries where vegetables are used in cooking is long.

“In most parts of the world, it is one of the top three most consumed vegetables by the population. That is why the onion is also the third most produced vegetable in the world in terms of volume. Only tomatoes and cucumbers have a larger production volume,” he adds.

Onion is also a villain in Brazil

To a lesser extent, onion prices rose in several other countries. Even in Brazil, where it was the item with the highest cumulative increase in 2022 according to the Extended Consumer Price Index (IPCA): 130.14%.

To give you an idea of ​​the magnitude, second on the list, yam, rose 62% in price over the past year.

Reasons for the increase include the reduction in the area planted by farmers and the increase in production costs as inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides were ultimately impacted by the high dollar and the war in Ukraine.

This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional64254377