On August 1, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture announced its forecast for wholesale vegetable prices in August. Due to the ongoing extreme heat, prices for vegetables like tomatoes and bell peppers are expected to be about 20% higher than average.
The ministry considers prices to be “normal” if they fall within 90%–110% of the five-year average. But this summer’s high temperatures and drought have led to poor crop growth and lower shipment volumes, pushing prices up.
Vegetables likely to be more expensive than usual include cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, daikon, carrots, and spinach. On the other hand, cabbage and lettuce have grown well thanks to decent rainfall in key regions and are expected to be cheaper than usual in early August.
Data from late July shows cucumber, tomato, and carrot prices were already 15–20% higher than normal. At Tokyo’s central wholesale market, cucumbers reached 1.4 times the usual price, and tomatoes and peppers were about 1.3 times higher.
Rice Prices Rise for the First Time in 10 Weeks
The ministry also reported that the average retail price of rice (per 5kg bag) rose by ¥35 to ¥3,467 between July 21 and 27—marking the first increase in 10 weeks. This is believed to be due to a slowdown in sales of cheaper government stockpiled rice.
The rice price data was collected by a research firm from about 6,000 supermarkets and drugstores nationwide. It differs from the ministry’s weekly Monday supermarket price reports.
Agriculture Minister Koizumi commented that this might be a temporary pause and said, “We’ll keep a close eye on whether prices go up or down from here.”
by MagazineKey4532