After rising for two and a half years, retail food prices are now stable in Georgia. It has to be said that retail prices for some fruits and vegetables were way above last year’s levels in July. Analysts at EastFruit note that the latter were caused by short-term market fluctuations.
According to the official data, the average retail price for food in Georgia in July 2023 has remained practically the same as in June 2023. It was almost the same as in July last year. The general price level, which includes all consumer goods and not just food, has stabilized in a similar fashion to the food group.
At a glance, there were some wild upward swings in the retail prices of specific fruits, and vegetables. However, they should not be very significant or long-lasting.
The top three annual retail price growth rate in July 2023 comes from cabbages (+66%), pears (+44%), and peppers (+39%). July is an early harvest period for these products, which is naturally volatile. Gaps in supply can appear as the market is switching to the new season. This causes temporary price spikes for the early harvest. According to EastFruit’s wholesale price monitoring tool, wholesale prices in the first week of August have already reduced from the July levels. Hence it will be logical for retail prices to reduce.
Cucumbers (+30%) and greenery (+23%) had the fourth and the fifth highest retail price growth. They are generally very volatile markets in Georgia. Prices can be very high in one week, and much lower in the next one as the supply is very susceptible to weather shocks and it is not stable at this time of the year.
For more information: east-fruit.com
