The prices of spices on the commodity markets are currently rising rapidly. The price of pepper alone has almost doubled since the beginning of the year. According to the spice industry, the causes include crop losses due to extreme heat and flooding, as well as higher freight costs due to the war in the Middle East.
For example, the extreme heat in Brazil has led to crop losses for pepper and coffee; a decline of 40 percent is expected for pepper. “In Vietnam, the largest producer of pepper, the harvest is expected to be around 15 percent smaller,” Spice Industry Association president Erwin Kotányi said on Monday.
In addition to Brazil, Vietnam is also one of the most important countries of origin for coffee. The droughts have led to record prices internationally and made the situation on the world market “difficult”, according to Hartwig Kirner, director of Fairtrade Austria. Crop yields in general are becoming increasingly uncertain due to the climate.
When it comes to bay leaves, the growing area in Turkey has not yet recovered from the 2021 fires, according to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The price of caraway, which has risen by about 40 percent, is due to exceptional demand from India, “as the cumin harvest in this country has been poor and cumin, with a similar taste, is added to caraway.”
Garlic and peppers are also more expensive
Peppers and garlic are also becoming increasingly expensive. The cost of herbs like marjoram and basil, which are grown in Egypt, is currently at an all-time high. The reasons are the extreme heat and the current change in growing area from spices to wheat.
Another aspect is the higher freight costs for many spices. “The reason for this is that the transport ships have to bypass the Suez Canal, which extends the transport by about four weeks,” Kotányi and Katharina Koßdorff from the spice industry department of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce said in a joint press release. The situation is unlikely to improve any time soon.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
