Last week, the average retail prices of lettuce and cabbage in Japan were about 40% lower than those in normal years, according to an agriculture ministry survey.
The average retail prices dropped between 5% and 40% for eight vegetables, apparently because relatively high temperatures since last autumn brought forward the shipments, mainly of leafy vegetables. The prices of lettuce, cabbage and daikon Japanese radish declined 40%, 39% and 27%, respectively.
The ministry predicts that temperatures will remain relatively high during the winter. Therefore, the wholesale prices of some vegetables are expected to become cheaper than normal years in February, with the average prices of lettuce, cabbage, hakusai Chinese cabbage, daikon and potato seen falling more than 20% from normal years.
