Christmas fruits expected to be in stock and at low prices

Reduction. FDC indicated prices are down 20% compared to 2020

The Dominican Federation of Merchants (FDC) ensured the supply of Christmas fruits for the festive season and stated that prices are 20% lower than last year.

The president of the FDC, Iván García, called on the population to be calm, ensuring that there is a sufficient supply of seasonal fruits in the local market, especially apples and grapes.

He said that the leading suppliers of apples and grapes marketed in the country import them from the United States and Chile.

“The organized trade, agglutinated in the Dominican Federation of Merchants, informs the whole town in general that the fruits of the Christmas period for this 2021, especially grapes and apples, this year even have a 20 percent lower price than in 2020,” said the commercial leader.

He stressed that local importers of these products are selling a box of 113 to 125 apples between RD $ 2,400 and RD $ 2,800, while a 23-pound box of grapes sells for RD $ 3,000.

“The town can be calm because this year we have a 20 percent cheaper price of grapes and apples,” García reiterated.
He emphasized that there will be no shortage of overpricing and that the products that the increases in maritime freight have impacted come from China.

The statements of the president of the FDC differ from what was recently expressed by the president of the Association of Shipowners of the Dominican Republic, Teddy Heinsen, who assured that products such as grapes and apples, among other fruits widely consumed in the Christmas season, but that prices will be higher than in previous years.

“That’s because you have to pay extravagant freight to move it by rail within the United States, and freight from New York and Houston has already risen, although not by the same magnitude as those from China, but they have gone up because the bunker fuel they use is much more expensive, and in situations of the lines that have to use more expensive ships, because the ones that had been have taken it to China, “Heinsen explained during an interview on a television program.

Consumption
Although the consumption of fruits has spread throughout the year, it is in December when consumption of apples, grapes, pears, walnuts, raisins, and others increases.