Demand fell by up to 40% due to the fall in purchasing power and rising prices

This way, the consumer paid $3.1 for every $1 received by the producer in the seventh month of the year. While the producer’s share accounted for, on average, 35.7% of the final sales prices, 14.8% more than in June and reaching the highest value since December 2022.

CAME: Why the demand for fruits and vegetables fell

The analysis showed that the greatest participation was had by the broccoli producers (60.8%), while the lowest was again for lemon producers (7.1%), as has been happening in recent months.

From CAME, they indicated that “during the month of July 2024, as a result of the decrease in purchasing power and the lack of price validation by the consumer, it was observed a drop in demand of between 30% and 40%.”

In this sense, they pointed out that “since they are generally perishable products, the situation forced different links in the value chain (wholesalers and retailers) to give up part of the income” and added that “the sharp increase in costs “both in dollarized inputs, as well as in transportation, logistics, leasing, fuels and salaries, to name a few.”

They also highlighted that “Agricultural production has been affected by frost and extreme cold throughout the countrydirectly impacting supply” and noted that “as a result, an increase in food prices was observed, increasing the producer’s share in the final price at destination.”

The IPOD for fruits and vegetables, which includes the prices of 19 fruits and vegetables, increased 3.6-fold in July, representing a 20% decrease compared to the previous month.

The IPOD for livestock, made up of 5 products and by-products of animal origin, showed that consumers paid 2.9 times more than producers received. In this case, there were no changes compared to June.

IPOD July’s largest and smallest gaps

Lemon (14.1 times), mandarin (9.8), red apple (6.9), pear (6.1) and pork (5) were the five products that presented the greatest difference between origin and destination prices.

Of the five products that presented the smallest difference between the price received by the producer and the price paid by the consumer, 4 are part of the fruit and vegetable basket (broccoli with 1.6 times, pepper and onion, with 1.9 times both and zucchini, 2 times) and 1 of the animal origin basket (eggs with 1.9 times).