{"id":10896,"date":"2024-10-12T16:50:19","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T14:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=10896"},"modified":"2024-10-26T16:51:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T14:51:59","slug":"vegetable-vendors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/vegetable-vendors\/","title":{"rendered":"Losses, Debts, and Spoilage: The Risks of Being a Vegetable Vendor in Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being a vegetable or fruit vendor in Egypt means your livelihood depends on selling your goods that very day. Any leftover stock for the next day risks either spoilage or being sold at a loss, at best. This challenge is compounded by intense heat waves, a decline in consumer demand due to high prices, and fruit now being considered a luxury for many. (Egypt recently experienced record heat waves, with temperatures in some areas, like Aswan, surpassing 49.5 degrees Celsius in the shade.)<\/p>\n

Saeed (a pseudonym), a 40-year-old fruit and vegetable vendor, only lasted two months in the retail business before deciding to switch to wholesale tomato trading, selling to small vendors. In his interview with Zawia3, Saeed explained his decision after losing 35,000 EGP during that time. \u201cI chose a prime location in a densely populated area with high-rise buildings and luxury cars. I rented a shop for 7,000 EGP per month and stocked high-quality produce suitable for the area\u2019s residents,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But Saeed soon discovered that the location was not as promising as he had hoped. “Despite the luxury cars and million-pound apartments, people would ask about prices and then leave or buy only after heavy bargaining,” he explains. “With rising vegetable and fruit prices, people have cut back drastically. Those who used to buy three kilograms of tomatoes now settle for one or half a kilogram, and most have given up fruit entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, vegetable prices have risen significantly. The price per kilogram of tomatoes reached 30 EGP, zucchini 35 EGP, and potatoes and cucumbers range between 25 and 30 EGP.<\/p>\n

In this context, Hatem El-Nagib, Deputy Head of the Vegetable and Fruit Division, explained to Al-Hayat Channel last week that the price increases are due to severe heat waves. El-Nagib noted that half of the crop was damaged due to the high temperatures, adding that tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and okra were among the most affected products. According to his estimates, tomato yields have declined by 50%, cucumbers by 40%, and zucchini by 30%.<\/p>\n

In addition to heat waves, inflation also affects vegetable prices. According to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the price of one kilogram of tomatoes in August 2023 was around 12 EGP, compared to 6 EGP in the same month in 2022. The same applies to cucumbers, which rose to 14 EGP in August 2023 from about 8 EGP in August 2022. Zucchini experienced a significant increase, with the price reaching around 35 EGP in August 2023, compared to 10.31 EGP in August 2022\u2014an increase of over threefold.<\/p>\n

Saeed is not alone in facing these challenges, as the majority of vegetable and fruit vendors who set up in markets or along roadsides share the same struggles. While Saeed opted to shift to wholesale, earning 400 EGP daily to \u201cgain the trust of his new customers,\u201d others have adopted different strategies to adapt to the changing nature of their \u201csabouba\u201d\u2014a term used by fruit and vegetable vendors to refer to their daily trade.<\/p>\n

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Don’t miss: Cheap Food Choices in Egypt: Balancing Price and Health Risks<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Empty Markets and Reduced Farming<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fatma (a pseudonym), a fruit vendor, entered the trade four years ago after her husband\u2019s accident forced her to work to support her family of four daughters, the eldest being 15. Throughout this period, Fatma had never seen as many vendors disappear from the markets as she does now. \u201cMany vendors no longer occupy their spots in the market. I used to take only Fridays off, but now I stay home for three or four days,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Fatma attributes this to \u201chigh crop prices and low sales,\u201d estimating her daily profit on good days to be around 120 to 150 EGP, an amount she shares with her sister-in-law who helps her sell. \u201cWe used to earn around 200 or 300 EGP a day, but now our earnings have halved,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Atiya, a 26-year-old vegetable vendor in Shubra El-Kheima, Qalyubia Governorate, agrees. He says he went last week to buy his stock and found a crate of tomatoes priced at 600 EGP and a kilogram of peppers at 18 EGP wholesale. He decided to close his shop and stay home that day. Atiya notes that things have changed and that about a third of the vendors in his area have either closed their shops or stopped working, while others are considering the same.<\/p>\n

But staying home for longer periods was not enough for both Fatma and Atiya. With slow sales, they decided to reduce the amount of stock they displayed to match the low demand. \u201cI used to buy enough produce to fill a half-ton truck with 30 or 40 crates, but now I use a smaller vehicle carrying only 16 to 20 crates,\u201d Fatma explains. Despite this reduction, she often finds herself selling leftovers at a loss the next day.<\/p>\n

Atiya faces a similar situation, reducing his displayed stock to less than half. \u201cI used to display 30 crates of tomatoes a day; now I display only 10,\u201d he explains. While this quantity usually sells out, if any is left, he buys less for the following day.<\/p>\n

These strategies have helped Fatma and Atiya avoid falling into debt with wholesalers. \u201cMany vendors are piling up debts due to the high prices and weak demand, in addition to rising transportation and rental costs,\u201d Atiya notes. He points out that some vendors failed to adapt to market changes and did not reduce their stock, resulting in spoiled goods and financial losses.<\/p>\n

Atiya believes that inheriting the trade from his father and grandfather has helped him understand the market. \u201cProfits have certainly dropped, but I haven\u2019t had to borrow, and I\u2019m still able to support my family,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fatma says, \u201cI prefer to pay the wholesaler everything I made at the end of the day, even if it means having no profit, rather than going into debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“Add It to the Ledger”… Drowning in Debt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fathy Ismail, a fruit wholesaler at Obour Market\u2014one of Cairo’s major wholesale markets on the Ismailia Desert Road\u2014explains to Zawia3 that \u201cthe ledger\u201d refers to a \u201cledger of debts\u201d used to record the money that retail vendors owe to wholesalers.<\/p>\n

Ismail notes that wholesalers often allow retail vendors to take goods without paying upfront, with the expectation that they will settle the amount at the end of the day after selling. But “Um Abdelrahman,” who, along with her husband and four children, works at the Suleiman Gohar Market in Dokki, finds herself drowning in debts that have accumulated to 45,000 EGP without fully understanding how it happened.<\/p>\n

She explains, \u201cI started borrowing from Obour Market three years ago with an amount of 30,000 EGP, and when we couldn\u2019t repay it, we stopped buying from there.\u201d However, this was not the ideal solution, as she later had to borrow an additional 15,000 EGP from semi-wholesalers.<\/p>\n

“Um Abdelrahman” describes how debt, combined with the summer heat and high prices, has made her situation even more difficult. \u201cDue to the debts, the wholesaler charges us higher prices by two or three pounds. With the decline in customer demand, we end up with leftovers for the next day, and with the heat, they spoil. What we can sell, we have to sell for less than wholesale price,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As a result, the family earns about 250 EGP on the best days, and she wonders, \u201cHow can 250 EGP support a family of six, with three of my children ready for marriage?\u201d She breaks down her expenses, saying, \u201cI pay 1,000 EGP for the rental space, 200 EGP for bags, and losses from spoiled goods amount to about 100 EGP daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

She admits that things were better before, when they used to earn between 500 and 700 EGP daily, but their situation has worsened over the past five years. Despite everything, she hasn\u2019t yet considered quitting, adding, \u201cMy only wish is to save a small amount to help prepare my daughter for marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Don’t miss: How Egyptians Cope with the Impact of Inflation on Essential Goods<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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“The Legend of Greedy Merchants”<\/strong><\/p>\n

In mid-August, the Vegetable and Fruit Division launched an initiative called “From Farm to Home,” urging citizens to shop from central markets rather than retail markets.<\/p>\n

In his interview with Zawia3, Hatem El-Nagib, Deputy Head of the Vegetable and Fruit Division at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, clarified that the initiative\u2019s goal is \u201cto buy from wholesalers and thereby reduce the costs borne by citizens as produce passes through semi-wholesale and retail vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initiative has two parts: first, encouraging citizens to visit wholesale markets, which El-Nagib says \u201chas already happened as people are starting to buy their supplies from there,\u201d and second, offering discounted goods at Ministry of Supply consumer complexes to \u201censure availability and competitiveness,\u201d a plan that is currently being prepared, according to El-Nagib.<\/p>\n

While the initiative seeks to address price issues by eliminating the final stages of the vegetable and fruit marketing cycle, the head of the Farmers\u2019 Syndicate, Hussein Abu Saddam, focused on \u201ccurbing merchant greed.\u201d Initially, El-Nagib agreed with Abu Saddam about retail merchants\u2019 greed, saying, \u201cAll of this is true, but I can\u2019t call someone a thief. Instead, when citizens avoid buying from those who raise prices, it will create market discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n

When confronted with the challenges facing retail vendors, El-Nagib stated that \u201cthe problem lies in certain erroneous practices, but some retail merchants can\u2019t keep up with the rising costs of expenses, rents, labor, water, and electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concludes that the problem originates at the source: \u201cIt\u2019s not about the vendors but about availability\u2014products just aren\u2019t available.\u201d He explained, \u201cThe July crops, which are currently available, were affected by the high temperatures, impacting production volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that the vegetable scarcity has driven prices up even in wholesale markets, El-Nagib noted that citizens would save money by buying from wholesale markets, thus bypassing semi-wholesale and retail vendors.<\/p>\n

While he emphasizes that citizens have responded to the initiative, he estimates that \u201c90% of Egyptians won\u2019t go to wholesale markets,\u201d suggesting that he directs his call to those \u201cwho can go and have large families who can split the produce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, two wholesale traders at Obour Market, Fathy Ismail and Ashraf Ali, denied any citizen turnout in response to the initiative, resisting the idea of blaming retail merchants for the price hikes.<\/p>\n

Although Ismail estimates that prices at Obour Market are \u201chalf the retail price,\u201d he explains that retail vendors \u201chave to set these prices, after accounting for transportation, an eight-pound fee per crate paid to the wholesaler, store rent, and labor costs. After all that, they need to feed themselves and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes the difference in weight between a crate of mangoes purchased in bulk from a wholesaler, which weighs ten kilos, versus individually weighed kilos, which may only total around nine kilos.<\/p>\n

He also mentions another type of waste that retail vendors bear: evaporation. \u201cIf you weigh a carton of mangoes the next day, you\u2019ll notice a weight loss,\u201d he says, speculating that no retail vendor in popular areas would dare to raise their profit margin excessively, explaining, \u201cThey\u2019re forced to have a small margin to be able to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ismail observed a state of recession in the wholesale fruit market, estimating a 20% drop due to people\u2019s preoccupation with the Prophet\u2019s Birthday and school preparations. He also noted that apart from these occasions, there is a downturn because \u201cretail vendors are reducing their purchasing rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Abdulrahman Ali, a wholesaler at Obour Market, doubts the effectiveness of the \u201cFrom Farm to Home\u201d initiative, considering the call for citizens to shop at wholesale markets \u201cillogical given the logistical challenges of transporting produce home.\u201d<\/p>\n

He discusses the role retail vendors play in raising prices, attributing the issue to increased farming costs. He emphasized that \u201csmall vendors are victims, just like end consumers,\u201d estimating that the fruit market is experiencing a 30% slowdown. \u201cWomen prefer to buy vegetables while shopping, and if there\u2019s any money left, they consider buying fruit,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

This explains the calm observed in the fruit halls at Obour Market, compared to the activity in the vegetable halls. This does not mean that the vegetable market is immune to recession, according to Ahmed Diab, a market vendor, who told us after selling his last remaining stock: \u201cThe market crowd during this period doesn\u2019t compare to times of prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Egyptian vegetable vendors face daily losses, with tomato prices reaching 30 EGP per kilogram and a 50% drop in tomato crop yields due to heat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[409],"tags":[],"kateb":[6268],"class_list":["post-10896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics-en","kateb-sara-elharith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/\u0628\u0627\u0626\u0639\u064a-\u0627\u0644\u062e\u0636\u0631-\u0641\u064a-\u0645\u0635\u0631-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10896"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10899,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10896\/revisions\/10899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10896"},{"taxonomy":"kateb","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kateb?post=10896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}