Potatoes, onions, milk and more
It just so happens that the spring awakening of nature is inextricably linked with the anxious expectations of rising food prices. Which is quite understandable. Stocks of vegetables in domestic storage facilities are depleted, and imports from Egypt, Iran and Azerbaijan are on the horizon. And they already exist — but the prices … Young orange-colored potatoes from Egypt cost 60 rubles a kilogram. What to expect from food price tags tomorrow?
So far, potatoes are not losing their positions and in large retail chains they cost 23-25 rubles, moreover, they are of quite tolerable quality. But all this is the remnants of the former luxury, that is, last year's high harvest.
— Now I'm starting to sell in bulk at a loss, — says a farmer from the Bryansk region. — Storage costs me a penny.
We consider how much it costs to store the “second bread”. These days, it begins to deteriorate and it is necessary to blow ventilation around the clock to dry the tubers. For a storage of 3,000 tons, this pleasure costs 50 kilowatt-hours, and one kilowatt-hour costs 9 rubles. For an hour of work, you need to pay 450 rubles, for a day about 10 thousand.
It is logical that the closer to the new sowing season, the more expensive the potatoes of the old crop should rise in price. Taking into account the cost of this very storage. But the peculiarity of the current season is that, on the contrary, it is becoming cheaper due to the huge stocks accumulated in Russian farms. The farmer says that he is glad to give him 8-9 rubles each in order to help out at least something.
“But I won’t plant potatoes next year,” he says decisively. — I'm not getting any money. For 50 hectares, together with seeds, you need about 10 million rubles. Where can I get them with such low wholesale and retail prices? And in general, this market is very unstable, when it is dense, and when it is empty…
— And how much will the imported “second bread” cost this spring? I ask him.
— Domestic stocks are running out, the market fills with imports. By the end of April, from Egypt, 70 rubles per kilogram, and by mid-May, young potatoes from Azerbaijan are no less than 100 rubles.
In general, the winners are those of our fellow citizens who have made autumn stocks for the winter and store them somewhere in a closet or basement. They do not need to blow anything and pay 9 rubles per kilowatt-hour. One task is to sort out the tubers before it's too late, remove the rotten ones, and the healthy ones will lie until the new harvest from the south of Russia. And everyone else will have to shell out for import supplies until August, when the potato conveyor from the southern regions of Russia will go.
As for the borscht set, according to experts, not only potatoes, but also onions are at risk (in the sense of rising prices). True, onions have risen in price by 67% since the beginning of the year and it is hardly necessary to expect new price records from it, there seems to be nowhere further.
From other food products, oddly enough, analysts bring milk and dairy products into the “red zone”. At the end of 2022, we have overproduction of these products. They milked 800 thousand tons more than in 2021, and consumption decreased by 250 thousand tons. Why the price increase?
Nevertheless, it will be — 10 percent. As experts explain, now before Easter, Great Lent is observed by a significant number of Russians who abstain from fatty foods. And after Bright Sunday (April 16), a stir is expected in the dairy departments: both producers and trade will take advantage of increased demand. Most likely, prices for different types of meat will also rise under this comb, because many Russians also refused it in Lent.
— Milk prices will begin to decline only in June, when cows go out to pastures and milk yields increase one and a half times, — says Dmitry Valigursky, professor of economics and practicing farmer. — But gardeners and gardeners will have to spend money this spring. Prices for seedlings of tomatoes and cucumbers have already increased by 20 percent today. Poultry: chickens, ducks, geese have risen in price by about the same amount. A five-month-old laying hen on the market costs 400 rubles.
Meanwhile, the first greenhouse cucumbers, which were planted in January, have already started growing in Sevastopol. In the near future we expect price reductions for these products. And there will be more to come. By May — 30% percent.
It is best, of course, not to rely on the mercy of nature and the weather, that something will take there and become cheaper seasonally or hothouse. In some retail chains, 15 percent discounts on all goods have been announced to pensioners until May. Why not stock up? For example, sugar for autumn for making pickles and jams.