You’re Paying More for Potatoes and Onions Because of These Two Reasons

You’re paying high prices for produce because of a changing exchange rate in Chetumal and rising agricultural costs linked to climate change, according to the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC).

Vendors at the Michael Finnegan Market in Belize City told News Five on Monday that wholesale prices from BMDC have climbed so high that customers are walking away. They say it has left them struggling to cover rent and make a living. One vendor said a $250 sack of potatoes yields barely $37 in profit once resold.

Today, BMDC Administrator Valentin Carillo said the corporation, which imports produce from Mexico, is paying more to acquire commodities from Mexico than it did last year. 

“This year we have noticed that from when we started importing certain commodities the prices were a bit higher than last year. For mainly two reasons,” Carillo said. 

Carillo says the exchange rate has shifted from about 8.50 pesos to the US dollar last year to around 7.80 now, a difference of roughly 60 cents per dollar that he says translates to almost a ten percent increase.

Climate change is compounding the problem. Carillo said cutting crop yields and driving up input costs on both sides of the border. “You have less products and higher agricultural inputs on their crops, and so you have higher prices.”

Carillo also addressed complaints about product quality, saying BMDC imports twice weekly to keep goods fresh, but Belize’s heat undermines that effort. “The weather is very hot, thirty-eight degrees Celsius… When it reaches here it is under shade and everything and it gets distributed. When it reaches the market it is hot.”