Consumers begin to feel pork pinch

Consumers begin to feel pork pinch

Since early November, the price of pork has been increasing rapidly. In some provinces, the price of live pigs has hit a record of VND80,000 ($3.45) per kilogramme, an almost 170 per cent increase in just six months.

The record tally has already pushed the price of pork in wet markets across the country up to VND170,000 ($7.40) per kilogramme. The price of other foodstuff made from pork, such as Vietnamese sausages, has also hiked up to VND40,000 ($1.70) per kilogramme.

In some shops and restaurants in Hanoi, the rise has led to increases of up to VND10,000 ($0.40) per dish. Last week, Duong Thu Ha, a bank officer in the centre of the capital, was surprised at the increased fee of the noodles with pork that she usually has for lunch.

“They used to charge me VND35,000 ($1.50), but now a dish can be either VND10,000 more expensive or if it has the same price, it comes with a much smaller serving of meat,” said Ha.

It is a common situation at most restaurants in the big cities, with the price of meals such as noodles with grilled pork, doner kebabs, and bread with pate and sausages rising by around 50-75 per cent.

Shop owners said that they had no option but to raise prices for pork dishes so as to not suffer losses. In the past, they bought wholesale at VND70,000-90,000 ($3-$4) per kilogramme, which has now been bumped up to VND130,000-160,000 ($5.50-$7). Despite the fear of losing customers, they still decided to raise the price of their menu options.

Although the price of pork has gone up, most families cannot give it up and replace it with other meat to save money. Tuyet Mai, an accountant living in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district said her family usually eats bacon and ribs, which are the most expensive parts of a pig, priced at around VND170,000 ($7.40) currently.

With her family eating bacon four days a week, costs previously hit around VND2.5 million ($110) per month, but now she sees an additional VND1 million ($43.50) added on top of that. “Despite the expensive pork, I still buy it for our meals to complement fish and chicken. However, the price of other meat is also increasing, so I have to spend more on guaranteeing nutrition in our meals,” said Mai.

Recently, other meat like goose, duck, and beef have also increased prices by up to VND10,000 ($0.45) per kilogramme. Furthermore, the price of chicken has risen to VND120,000 ($5.20) from around VND80,000 ($3.50).

While the basic wage has only increased by VND100,000 a month, workers’ salary is not rising as fast as food prices, some of which have nearly doubled. “We should become vegetarians, which is healthy and may save money,” bemoaned Truong Duc Trung, a state employee.

Nudge of CPI

The price of pork has been affected by African swine fever (ASF) sweeping across the country, causing massive losses to livestock. This was exacerbated by speculative stockpiling, which pumped up pork prices in November by 18.5 per cent against October.

The consecutive increase of essential meats contributed to pushing Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in recnt months. In November, the CPI increased by 0.96 per cent against October – the highest rate in the last nine years, driven by soaring pork and fuel prices, according to data from the General Statistics Office.

The fast increase of CPI in November was forecast several months ago when ASF had expanded to almost every city and province in the country. According to expert projections, the complicated movement of ASF will continue to affect the price of pork and the impact on CPI will last until the early months of 2020.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, acting director of the Department of Livestock Production of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said, “As of November 25, ASF has appeared in 8,533 communes and 166 districts of 63 cities and provinces, causing the death and culling of 5.9 million pigs with total weight exceeding 330,000 tonnes. About 4,823 previously affected communes have now gone 30 days without another outbreak. However, in November, 146 communes suffered from the disease again. Disease control is strong but the problem has not ceased.”

Regarding the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai reaffirmed that pork is an essential good on the Lunar New Year, and thus if supplies are not ensured, it will not only impact the CPI but also the lives of people.

To address customers fears over rising prices, the MoIT is working to create stability for the pork market. Responding to the ministry's initiative, supermarkets such as Co.opmart Nha Trang, Big C Nha Trang, and Lotte Mart have implemented programmes to sell pork at a stable price to consumers. Specifically, Co.opmart in Nha Trang sells pork at prices lower than 10 per cent compared to traditional markets. Meanwhile, Big C in the same city currently sells pork products at prices equal to previous months, simultaneously implementing the price-locking programme in the latter months of the year for essential consumer goods, including pork.

Passing the buck

According to the MARD, in the first ten months of this year, total pork imports reached 54,000 tonnes, more than the full annual figures for the 2016-2018 period.

“The ministry proposed the prime minister to assign the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to be in charge of keeping the price of pork stable in the time coming,” Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said, gliding over the MARD's tasks of preventing the spread of ASF and supporting farming companies to repopulate herds and instead discussing the tasks of another body.

“The MoIT is building plans to increase pork imports from countries with which it has bilateral trade relations in the segment to offset the existing lack,” he continued.

However, increased imports would have an adverse effect on repopulating domestic pig herds – an initiative the MARD is implementing at the moment.

The MARD plays a crucial role in organising a plentiful supply of pork – which would go a long way in price management. However, with the ASF still at large and repopulation efforts coming far too late – there are only two months left until the Lunar New Year, while pigs need five-six months to grow – the ministry's meddling in the affairs of others can be seen as little more than shifting the burden.

vir