After the onion shortage, here comes the garlic shortage

For several months, the Ministry of Agriculture had issued forecasts for the production and consumption of garlic in the country. Expected demand was 146,850 tonnes, while domestic production was forecast at only 83,000 tonnes. That is a deficit of more than 63,000 tons.

 

Retail prices have jumped and locally grown garlic is now costing the Filipino consumer up to PHP 400 (USD 7.23) per kg. At the end of January 2023, on the world market the average wholesale price was PHP 64 (USD 1.16) per kg.

 

This surge in garlic prices is mainly due to declining national production and logistical problems. The vagaries of the weather hinder the production of garlic, but if the production is abundant, the logistics are a challenge. Since the Philippines is an archipelago and farmers are far from their target markets, shipping agricultural products across the country is difficult. Added to this is the decision of many farmers to no longer plant garlic because of low-priced imports often sold at half or a third of the price of local garlic.

 

The Phillipines imports garlic from China which exports heavily to Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.