The vegetable that ended up costing three times more in Romanian markets. It was one of the cheapest, but now it has an unexpected price

Buyers are shocked because we are talking about a price three times higher than in the fall. However, producers are asking people to be patriotic and pay more money for Romanian cabbage. Basically, everything produced in Romania is of high quality, compared to what is produced abroad, so it deserves to be more expensive, the producers believe.

The vegetable that ended up costing three times more in Romanian markets

However, “old” cabbage costs only 3 lei per kilogram. Shopkeepers say they have no choice, so people should encourage local vegetable production and pay more. “The prices of everything, not only cabbage, have increased a lot. But we give a little more on the cabbage“, explains a seller in the market.

According to Observatornews.ro, the representative of OIPA (Interprofessional Organization of Vegetable and Fruit Producers), Gheorghe Vlad, believes that the prices are justified because normally it is the off-season for cabbage. Therefore, those who really want to buy certain vegetables do so at this high price because it is “truffanda”, that is, the cabbage on the stalls is at the first harvest of the season.

“Now she is proud. We refer to an off-season in which we want to eat a tomato, a cucumber, an early cabbage. Indeed, it is not only new cabbage that is very expensive. Tomatoes are sold for 60 lei per kilogram, and new potatoes for 25 lei, although the farmers’ expenses for heating the greenhouses were not too high because the temperatures were unnaturally high”. explains the specialist.

For his part, local producer Irinel Gliga, owner of 3,000 square meters of solariums in Dolj, believes that cabbage is worth 10 lei per kilogram. “It is a very good culture. We have adapted very well to the technology, growing cabbage, and I can see that it is going very well. The top foil has a bottom foil that helps it a lot. Even the winters are not what they used to be. I say she is very good. And for the price, and for the taste and for everything”explains the farmer.

A kilogram of cabbage costs 10 lei, three times more than last season

Romania produces 600,000 tons of cabbage annually, being in the top 5 producers in the European Union. However, the largest amount is exported to countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy, as happens with most quality products of Romanian origin. Instead, Romanians buy products brought from other countries, sometimes obscure, at fairly low prices.

The pattern present in the kilogram of cabbage is actually found in most quality products from Romania, whether we are talking about lamb meat or tomatoes. It certainly matters that the Easter holidays are coming, when all Romanians make sacrifices in order to have a table full of goodies, but few will understand why a kilogram of tomatoes costs 50 lei per peasant stall.

Moreover, Romanians have become accustomed to paying more money for products of Romanian origin, because they would be of better quality and would not be treated with so many pesticides. In fact, an INSCOP survey conducted a month ago showed that 72.2% of Romanians prefer Romanian products even if they are theoretically more expensive.

At the same time, 62.7% of Romanians are of the opinion that Romanian agricultural products do not have the necessary exposure on the shelves of large stores because there is a conspiracy and an understanding between these multinationals and foreign producers. The rest of the Romanians believe that the reason for the lack of Romanian products on the shelves is much simpler: the production is much too small.