No New Year food shortages, consumers assured
No New Year food shortages, consumers assured
The Vientiane Capital State Foodstuff Enterprise has assured consumers there will be an adequate supply of food over the New Year, despite the high demand.
The enterprise is one of the largest food supply companies in Vientiane and has recently increased its capacity to supply meat by acquiring modern machinery for the slaughter of cattle and pigs.
The food provider can now supply 150-180 pigs and 30 cattle a day to retail markets in Vientiane.
Enterprise Director Mr Khamla Saengdara told the Vientiane Business-Social weekly recently they expect to double the supply of pigs over the New Year period in response to high demand.
Thanks to an adequate supply, he was optimistic that food prices, espe cially of pork and beef, would remain stable.
However, whenever a special occasion occurs and families splurge, prices in markets always spike. Vegetables in particular fall victim to this holiday price-hike mentality.
Traders always tell customers that high demand coupled with a short supply results in the price rise.
While the sectors responsible have done their best to keep prices under control over previo us holidays and festivals, some vendors always seize the opportunity to squeeze a bigger profit from their products.
It has already been observed that vegetables prices are starting to creep up and this is likely to continue until the New Year is upon us.
Traders currently sell coriander for 10,000 kip per kg, Chinese cabbage for 10,000 kip per kg, lettuce for 12,000 kip per kg, scallions for 12,000 kip per kg, cucumbers for 4,000 kip per kg, and chillies for 15,000 kip per kg.
Prices of products that are controlled by the government, such as beef, pork and fish, tend to remain stable.
Pork is currently on sale for 30,000 kip to 35,000 kip per kg, while beef costs 70,000 kip to 75,000 kip per kg in Vientiane markets.
