Kadiwa stores to stop selling cheaper onions
INQUIRER PHOTO
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily stopped selling cheaper onions at Kadiwa stores while finding ways to make the produce—currently priced at more than P500 per kilogram—more affordable.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said that the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the suppliers lapsed on Dec. 31, 2022, adding that they were working on the details of a supplemental accord to be able to sell onions at a lower price. “We won’t be selling cheap onions tomorrow. We have to make sure if we have to have a supplemental MOA, then everything has to be in order to start the second cycle,” she said.
Evangelista added that the DA was monitoring the farm-gate price—or the selling price between farmers and traders—which was slightly declining to about P210 to P250 per kg from around P460 per kg in December last year.
Kadiwa outlets run by the agency offer the bulbs for only P170 per kg in a move to help consumers alleviate the burden of skyrocketing prices. Each customer is allowed to purchase up to 3 kilos of onions.
Clear solution needed
Restaurateurs are particularly crying for help as skyrocketing onion prices upend menus and force them to cut profits amid a supply shortage of the humble root vegetable that is used to flavor sauces or add a spicy, crunchy kick to a variety of dishes.
Well-established chains, such as tycoon Lucio Co’s S&R pizza and burger outlets, made headlines when they decided to stop using onions altogether given the nationwide shortage.
But small business owners said they were pressured to maintain the same quality or risk losing customers.
“This is so frustrating and it’s challenging for us that we’re experiencing this crisis over a basic food ingredient. There really needs to be a clear solution to this problem soon,” Sandy Gonzales, a businesswoman who started her private catering company Gourmet Treats PH four years ago, told the Inquirer.
Gonzales said that onions were essential for achieving a deeper flavor for her bestseller dishes, such as pasta puttanesca and paella.
She added that her customers were discerning and would easily notice if she scrimped on her ingredients. “I opted not to increase my prices as I want to protect my customers,” she said.
Menu adjustments
Chef Jan Rodriguez, who operates The Weekend restaurant and cocktail bar in Cebu City, said that dishes like liver pate and bacon marmalade are simply removed from the menu when onions become unavailable. The business is also careful with price increases, unless the vegetable bulb is the star of the dish.
“For onion rings or beef and onions, we can opt to increase the price to a degree that the effort and [profit] margins still make sense,” Roridguez said.
Chona, who sells home-cooked Filipino staples at her small eatery a few streets away, keeps onions on the menu but at drastically reduced quantities.
“We still manage to put onions despite the high price,” she said as she scooped up spoonfuls of “tokwa’t baboy,” a fried pork and tofu dish served with a few slivers of raw red onion.
