How the onion became a luxury product in the Philippines; kilo costs R$ 75

Farmer Luis Angeles harvests his onions before they finish growing to take advantage of the sky-high prices for this food that has become a luxury product in the Philippines.

Onion prices have skyrocketed in recent months, with a kilo in Manila supermarkets reaching 800 pesos (about US$15 or R$75), more expensive than chicken or pork.

The humble vegetable has become a symbol of wealth in this impoverished Asian country, to the point where one bride even used expensive onions instead of flowers in her wedding bouquet. And yet, recently, crew members on a Philippine Airlines flight from the Middle East were arrested at Manila airport for trying to smuggle onions.

Some restaurants removed the food from their plates and many homes, overwhelmed by the highest inflation in 14 years, stopped consuming it.

To meet demand and bring the price below 200 pesos, the government authorized the import of 21,000 tons of onions.

But prices remain high and farmers like Angeles harvest earlier than usual to take advantage of the income.

“What’s happening is historic,” says Angeles, 37, as his workers dig tiny white and purple bulbs from the ground in the northern city of Bongabon, the self-proclaimed national onion capital. — It is the first time that prices reach this level.

When the harvest began in December, Angeles was reaching 250 pesos per kilo of onions.

On supermarket shelves in Manila, however, the price has more than doubled above the daily minimum wage.

“I told my family ‘let’s sell the onion instead of eating it’,” said Candy Roasa, 56, as she walked through a market in the capital, where she said she saw small bulbs selling for up to 80 pesos each.

‘Bad planning’

It’s not the first time the Philippines has faced a shortage of a staple food that has sent prices soaring. It has already happened with sugar, salt and rice.

Low harvests, high costs, lack of investment in irrigation and machinery, lack of cooling facilities and roads, in addition to frequent typhoons, have crippled the agricultural sector.

Pest outbreaks and rising oil and fertilizer prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made farmers’ plight worse.

Despite government promises to increase local food production, the country remains dependent on imports to feed its 112 million inhabitants.

President Ferdinand Marcos took over as secretary of agriculture to revive the nearly moribund sector, which accounts for a quarter of the country’s jobs but just 10% of GDP.

“Our agricultural sector faces major challenges,” said Geny Lapina, professor of agricultural economics at the University of the Philippines.

Each Filipino consumes an average of 2.34 kilograms of onions per year and, in theory, the country produces enough to meet this demand, according to official data.

However, as the tropical climate allows only one onion harvest per year, stocks were depleted or lost before the next harvest.

The recent removal of restrictions involving Covid-19, which allowed the resumption of gastronomic festivals and family gatherings at Christmas, caused an increase in demand for onions.

William Dar, agriculture secretary under former President Rodrigo Duterte, said the shortage could have been avoided if the current government had allowed imports in August.

“This is the result of poor planning,” Dar told local ABS-CBN television.

The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change and suffers from poor nutrition.

The average age of farmers is 57 years old and average farm size has dropped to 1.3 hectares from almost 3 hectares in the 1960s.

Many farmers do not own the land they cultivate and cannot invest to improve productivity without government assistance.

Salvador Catelo, an agricultural economist at the University of the Philippines, commented that there are “many challenges that need to be addressed immediately”.

“We have natural wealth that many other countries don’t have, which are (better) than us in terms of productivity and self-sufficiency,” said Catelo.

With the arrival of imported onions, Angeles fears that prices will fall to as much as 30 Philippine pesos (R$2.80) a kilo before the end of the harvest.

“We’re trying to make our investment survive,” he said.