I just want to know, why are vegetables extremely expensive at certain times (like summer) vs other times?
In the US, at least for Walmart 1 pack of green onion is $1.25 (this is year round). In Taiwan the same amount of green onion ranges from 20nt, to 100nt! Depending on the season you buy them of course. I’m picking on green onions because it can’t be hoarded or stored for more than 3 days (it turns into mush after 3 days no matter what).
How do restaurants cope with such a large price variable?
Restaurants build into their costs averaging it out over the year. As for supermarket, its market rates. If it’s snowing you know your salad will cost more.
Middlemen who buy from farmers dirt cheap and take a huge cut before selling to retailers for inflated prices, and engage in price gouging at the slightest hint of bad weather that may affect crops.
Every time I go to the markets and they quote some bullshit about how the rain has made the, I don’t know, cabbage more expensive. The middleman pulled it out of his fridge, just like always.
Well cabbage becomes dirt cheap in the winter for some reason. But cabbages can be stored long term, green onion turns to mush in 3 days no matter what you do.
Taiwan is small though and local effects of storms can be a big factor. I suspect though suppliers and distributors know people anticipate this and will take advantage to extract higher prices when possible.
Taiwan doesn’t have the same obsession with year-round availability of produce like America does. They don’t grow things in greenhouses to maintain a certain climate for certain foods.
Solution: buy seasonal produce. How do you know what’s in season? Go to the market and see what’s plentiful and cheap.
The US has spread out growth seasons from north to south as in Taiwan mostly everything grows and ripens quickly around the same period, gets harvested. Supply and demand. And as said crop damage (but that can be argued about).
