Records at Nepal Fruit Wholesalers Association (NFWA) at Kuleshwore, the main supply point for fruits in the Valley, show that the prices of fruits such as Indian apple, Chinese apple and Chinese pear have dropped by Rs 50 per kg.[break]
On Saturday, we sold Indian apples wholesale at Rs 150 per kg and Chinese apples at Rs 100 per kg, said Arjun Prasad Humagain, a wholesaler at NFWA. Chinese pear also sold at Rs 100 per kg.
The price of papaya dropped to Rs 40 per kg from Rs 65. Banana recorded a similar drop and sold at Rs 40 per dozen in the wholesale market.
NFWA records further show that sweet orange and pomegranate dropped by Rs 20 and Rs 30 per kg respectively on Saturday, compared to a week ago. On Saturday, sweet orange sold at Rs 80 per kg, while pomegranate was Rs 200 per kg.
The price of local pears came down Rs 30 and sold at Rs 25 per kg in the local market, Saturday.
“Prices went down mainly as imports from China grew sharply. Inflow from India is also smooth and normal,” said Humagain.
Most importantly, retailers, who were operating at a hefty profit margin in the past, settled for a lower margin in a bid to boost sales, which have declined of late.
A quick survey conducted by Republica showed that the gap between wholesale and retail prices for popular fruits at Kulewshore, Koteshwor and Baneshwor on Saturday remained at around 33 percent. Till a week ago, retailers were compelling consumers to pay almost double what they had paid wholesalers.
"That is because demand over the week saw a sharp fall, whereas supplies abounded. As fruits are highly perishable, we are forced to sell without much margin," said Ramchandra Bhattarai, a retailer at Koteshwor fruit market.
Retailers said they had hoped to see demand build up with the drop in prices, but that has not happened yet. "I used to sell fruits worth Rs 12,000 every day till last week. However, over the past six days sales have amounted to less than Rs 5,000 a day," Bhattarai added.
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