Good quality tomatoes have become scarce in recent weeks around the country, and they have suddenly become expensive.
Ethel Zulu from B Treefarm, spoke to eNCA on Wednesday and said heavy rains had led to the shortage.
“Definitely there has been an increase in the price of tomatoes due to heavy rains that we had in January and February. Most of the tomatoes were destroyed by the rain because tomatoes don’t necessarily need lots of water,” said Zulu.
Tomatoes have become scarce. When you do find them, the prices have soared. It’s understood that heavy rainfall have led to the shortage. @janedutton spoke to Ethel Zulu from Bee Tree Farm. Courtesy #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/2psPsulO1f
— eNCA (@eNCA) April 14, 2021
She said due to high demand, the price of tomatoes had, thus, gone up.
Business Insider quoted Dr Johnny Van Der Merwe, managing director of agricultural information group Agrimark Trends (AMT) as saying a record price of R16.82/kg was reached on the market by mid-March, while high-quality tomatoes prices breached R30/kg.
PICTURE: Cape Town etc gallery