Strong demand for local legumes has led to an increase in prices of legumes in recent weeks.
Producers cannot respond to the demand as unexpected rainfall in the summer and the heat wave that followed affected production.
President of the Cyprus Association of Grocery Store Owners, Polykarpos Kattasis, told Phileleftheros that the weather is to blame for the soaring of prices.
“Some legumes like green beans, black eyed peas, okra and white beans have become like caviar and are inaccessible to consumers,” he said.
The current price of green beans is at €4 per kg, white beans are at €7 per kg, black eyed peas are at €3 and okra at €4,30.
The amount of local products in the market is very low and most grocery stores rely on imported goods, Kattasis said.
“Local products have almost disappeared from the market because of the bad weather in the past two months. As a result, most grocers sell imported products like avocado, broccoli, carrots, beetroot, leeks, grapefruit and red cabbage.”
Fruits have also been affected as vineyards were damaged from the high humidity levels.
Grapes are at €2,00 per kg, apples at €1,50 and bananas are over €1,00 per kg.
Potato prices have doubled from €0,60 to €1,20 per kg while imported potatoes are sold at €0,90 per kg.
The reason for this, Phileleftheros reports, is that some traders are manipulating market prices by acquiring large numbers of potatoes from producers but only supplying the market with small quantities to keep the prices high, while storing the rest in fridges.
Product |
Price (per kg) |
Tomatoes |
€2,30 |
Green Beans |
€4,00 |
White Beans |
€7,00 |
Black Eyed Peas |
€3,00 |
Okra |
€4,30 |
Cauliflower |
€2,50 |
Broccoli |
€2,50 |
Potatoes |
€1,20 |
Taro |
€2,50 |
Celery |
€1,90 |
Grapes |
€2,00 |
Pineapple |
€1,50 |
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