Should you be looking for luxury gifts, instead of a necklace, why not consider... a garlic braid! According to the news coming form various markets, garlic prices have skyrocketed.
"We are talking about €3.50/kg for classic white garlic and even €7/kg for the most prestigious varieties from Spain," explains a wholesaler from Bologna. Prices are definitely below average if we think that, when harvesting started this summer, the price of white garlic from Spain was €2.50/kg. It is very rare for this product to have such variations in price. These peaks are normally reached only at the end of the season.
According to wholesalers and operators, prices were high already at the beginning of the Spanish campaign because of the rumours reporting a drop in Chinese production. The volumes of Chinese garlic arriving on the European market confirmed expectations. This would justify these quotations, also considering we are talking about a produce that has no particular shelf-life problems.
In other words - demand is practically constant and, considering the lack of Chinese garlic on the market, those who have produce available raise their prices. They can even stagger sales to make stocks last longer.
"There is only very little Italian garlic. It started with lower prices, but sales had to slow down not to finish all stocks."