“In comparison to last few months, the price of major spices has surged in the local market making them dearer every passing day,” said Sajeeb Bajracharya, sales executive of Sajiv Bajracharya store at Indra Chowk. [break]
The price of major spices such as cardamom, clove, white pepper, nutmeg, black pepper, coriander and bay leaf among others has increased by Rs 1,00 to Rs 1,000 per kg due to their increasing demand and low production in the international market.
The wholesaler claimed that there is a mismatch between the demand and the supply of the spices in the market. “With the rise in the population, the demand has also increased but the production is still very low, causing the price to shoot up,” said Bajracharya adding that Nepal is highly dependent on foreign countries for spices.
Price of cardamom, white pepper, nutmeg has increased by 100 percent thus making them expensive by Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. Cardamom which was earlier priced at Rs 1,000 a kg is currently selling at Rs 2,000 a kg while white pepper and nutmeg are selling at Rs 1,000 a kg and Rs 1,800 a kg, respectively.
Other popular spices such as clove has become expensive by Rs 700 per kg and dry ginger by Rs 200 per kg. Clove was earlier selling at Rs 600 per kg and dry ginger at Rs 300 per kg.
On the other hand, the price of mace flower which is used in cooking meat dishes has increased by more three folds. The price of mace flower surged to Rs 3,500 per kg from Rs 900 per kg recorded a few months ago.
Almost all the spices are imported. For example, nutmeg is imported from Macau, long pepper, cinnamon, bay leaf from Singapore and cloves, cumin and white pepper from South Africa. Dry ginger, red chilly, caraway seeds and many other spices are imported from China and India.
"Consumers are facing problems because they have to pay more than double in a matter of a few months. People who used to take one kg spices are buying only half a kg and as a result the sale has slumped ahead of the festive seasons,” said Bijay Joshi proprietor of Tea and Spices Center at Indra Chowk.
He further added that the government should make favorable environment for local production in order to reduce the dependence on other countries.
There is no uniformity in price in the market which also plays a major role in hiking the commodity prices. “Lack of proper marketing policy is probably the major cause for the price rise,” said Joshi.
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