After months of rising inflation and a general rise in prices, this year’s Christmas shopping basket will have to overcome another hurdle. The drought will affect the price of some traditional foods, such as grapes, as Mercabarna wholesalers, responsible for supplying the markets of Barcelona and its metropolitan area, acknowledged yesterday in a press conference. However, at the same time, the wholesalers sent a message of reassurance and said that the worst is over, that they expect the increase in the value of products to be contained in the face of such a marked period.
The suggestion was the usual one: “Get advice from the sellers of the markets, who are the experts”, in the words of the vice-president of the Association of Wholesale Companies of Mercabarna (Assocome), Jaume Flores. Flores himself assumed that they have been “living through a storm for eight or nine months”, referring to the rise in prices. But he also said that “since October” it is back to a “normal situation”. “The recent CPI data on fresh food gives us a break,” he was relieved.
So, as usual, there will be products that will be more expensive and others that will be cheaper than they were a year ago. All in all, Mercabarna expects to distribute around 103,000 tons of food this Christmas campaign. “It will be a year similar to last year”, predicted Flores.
But the vice-president of the Assocome also explained an exceptional situation. “For climatic reasons, both the grapes and the goat will be more expensive”, he explained. A context, the lack of rain, which will also damage the artichokes. “Drought and climate change affect. There are more expensive products because there is less quantity and, moreover, of lower quality”, summarized the wholesaler.
In this part of the planet, few people can imagine a New Year’s dinner without grapes. Things from the traditions. But now there are fewer of them. Most of those sold in Catalonia are from the south of Spain, Italy and Greece, regions affected by the drought. The Aledo variety, which is the most common on New Year’s Eve because it is more resistant once picked, is also weakened by the situation.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that there have also been problems, the arrival of grapes from South America is expected in the coming days to “satisfy demand and contain prices”, according to the vice president of the fruit and vegetable wholesalers’ union , Pere Prats. The wholesalers did not dare to quantify the increase in the price of New Year’s grapes, but this fruit has a cumulative increase in value of 20% from August until now. Prats and Flores did agree that, in any case, there will be no lack of gender in the run-up to Christmas.
Not all fruits, vegetables and vegetables will be more expensive than last year’s Christmas parties. Pineapple, kiwi and pomegranate, among others, are expected to be cheaper. Broccoli, cabbages and potatoes will also be more affordable, while endive, lettuce and spinach will remain.
Those responsible for Mercabarna explained that fish and shellfish have accumulated a 5% price increase since January. “The wholesalers will adjust the margin because we want to sell. It’s already expensive enough,” promised the president of the fish and seafood wholesalers’ guild, Àngel Máñez, about fresh seafood.
Frozen seafood will be cheaper than a year ago, with items such as white prawn, red prawn and lobster. Fresh sole and monkfish will have a higher value than a year ago, while squid and sea bream will maintain a stable price. Wild cod and aquaculture sea bass will drop in value. In this sector, farmed fish and seafood is gaining market share and already reaches 40%.
In the field of meat, Mercabarna does not have as much distribution as in vegetables and fish. The spokesman for this sector, Martí Colomer, explained that they expect a stable Christmas campaign compared to that of 2022. “Beef is below the prices of a year ago. It’s a good option for the holidays,” said Colomer. Josep Capdevila, poultry expert, also predicted “totally stable prices” and commented that there will even be “some drops because the price of cereal has been regulated”.