The prices of agri-food multiplied 3.5 times from the field to the shelf during April, according to the Price Index at Origin and Destination (IPOD) prepared by the Regional Economies sector of the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME). .
In this way, in the eighth month of the year, the consumer paid $3.5 for every $1 that the producer received. While the producer’s participation explained, on average, 31.4% of the final sales prices. The largest participation was for strawberry producers (81%), while the smallest was for lemon producers (8.1%).
The fruit and vegetable IPOD, made up of the prices of 19 fruits and vegetables, multiplied by 4.3 times in April, which represents a decrease of 6.5% compared to March. While the livestock IPOD, made up of 5 livestock products and by-products, the consumer paid 3.2 times more than what the producer received, 3.3% more than last month.
From the union-business entity they indicated that “according to the CAME Retail Sales Index, sales of the food and beverage category accumulate a drop of 23.8% in the first four months of the year compared to the same period in 2023, reflecting the “decrease in purchasing power and the lack of price validation by the consumer. That is, the decline is explained by a decrease in demand.”
Furthermore, they explained that “during the first four months of the year, all links in the different value chains have seen their profitability affected by strong increases in costs, not only due to the devaluation, but also to the increase in transportation and logistics, electricity, gas, patents and real estate taxes, leases, fuel, fertilizers and machinery spare parts, to name a few.
PRODUCT BY PRODUCT
Lemon (12.3 times), mandarin (6.9), orange (6.3), pear (5.9) and pork (5.6) were the five products that showed the greatest difference between origin and destination prices.
Meanwhile, the products that presented the smallest difference between the price received by the producer and that paid by the consumer are part of the fruit and vegetable basket: round tomato and pepper (2.1 times); pumpkin and onion (1.9 times); and strawberry (1.2 times).
