Lessen the mirelit brick

There is a shortage of some vegetables a result of last year’s drought. When stocks run out, we will have to wait until the season arrives. Refrigerating enterprises have only been able to raise their prices by 20 per cent which is far less than the rise in the prices farmers charge. Of course, we could ask: Who cares, when there is also a crisis in much more important sectors like poultry? While the price of poultry has stagnated, fodder prices have doubled. While meat processing enterprises have no choice and always need to make ham, freezing technology can be used for any vegetable. Hungarian consumers have long forgotten shortages of anything or even limited assortments. Most housewives have also stopped buying unprocessed vegetables. This is why the disappearance of certain products can be a serious issue. If climate change continues, the production and processing of vegetables will be completely transformed soon. If farm prices go up, so will consumer prices, because costs cannot be reduced in the refrigerating industry by a change in products. Vegetables and fruits account for 90 per cent of the output of refrigerating businesses and these cannot be replaced. Raising prices is a necessity for them. A rearrangement is taking place in the global market of food. While frozen salmon is common in stores, some vegetables will disappear from the same stores, because there was a drought last year. Of course, it cannot be a problem for the purchasers of a big retail chain to import a few palettes of frozen vegetables from India.