New Year food prices remain relatively stable
New Year food prices remain relatively stable
The price of most vegetables and other food products remained relatively stable over the Lao New Year ( Pi Mai Lao ) holiday due to sufficient supply to meet market demands.
This year's Pi Mai holiday, many vendors in different markets in Vientiane, especially Khuadin Market, remained open for trade over the holiday period.
The larger number of vendors open for business also meant there was more competition and therefore prices did not rise to the extent they have done in previous years.
Last year only a few vendors remained open over the Pi Mai holiday which saw the price of vegetables spike considerably, a Vientiane vendor named Ms Tham told Vientiane Times recently.
The price of some vegetables reached as high as double what they normally would, she told reporters.
Ms Tham said industry and commerce officials could also take some credit for the stable prices this year as they had paid attention to market prices and sought to ensure there was no unnecessary price gouging.
Before the holiday, industry and commerce officials joined with market authorities to tour local vending houses and cautioned vendors not to take advantage of customers, she explained.
However, some vendors still disobeyed officials' instructions to set their prices to make only a reasonable profit, Ms Tham added.
While some prices may have risen, almost all vegetables prices are currently back to normal after the holiday period.
Currently onions are selling for just over 10,000 kip per kg, raw chillis for 10,000 kip per kg while mint is 6,000-7,000 kip per kg.
Tomatoes are selling for 8,000-10,000 kip per kg and lettuce costs 15,000 kip per kg. Morning glory and amaranth are selling for 4,000 kip per kg.
Over last year's Pi Mai , the price of tomatoes doubled from 3,000-5,000 per kg to 10,000 a kg.
Lemons also rose from 10,000-12,000 kip per kg to 16,000 kip, egg plants went from 5-6,000 kip to 8,000 kip per kg while cabbage rose from 12,000 kip per 12kg to 30,000 kip.
Last year the price of mint remained stable at 4,000-5,000 kip a kg, onions stable at 8,000 kip a kg, and raw chilli unchanged at 6,000 kip per kg.
Meanwhile meat prices did not rise to the same extent as they did around three years ago as supply is now largely able to meet demand. Prices did rise but not to the same extent, according to anecdot es.
The supply of vegetables, as well as beef, pork and fish in Laos is currently sufficient to supply the market so prices will not rise like they have done over the past few years, agricultural technical staff reported.
They observed that the numbers of farmers growing crops and vegetables has increased in Vientiane and also in other provinces, as has the number of livestock breeders.
