‘Demand for food returns to normal; surge expected on payday’

AMMAN — Demand for food items returned to normal after an overall increase by around 15 per cent at the beginning of the Ramadan season, Foodstuff Traders Association (FTA) President Khalil Haj Tawfiq said Saturday.

The volume of purchases this year is lower than the beginning of the season last year, as Ramadan comes in the middle of the month, while the majority of employees in the Kingdom receive their salaries at the end of the month, he explained.

Haj Tawfiq expected the demand to increase towards the end of the month when employees receive their salaries.

“Prices of imported food items were stable, while the FTA received some complaints about price hikes of some locally produced vegetables,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone, adding that shopping malls have been committed to the price discounts they promised.

Haj Tawfiq said there was “high” demand on white meat, poultry products and frozen meats, despite delays of tens of containers of imported meats at the Aqaba Container Terminal.  

He added that demand for basic items such as rice and oil increased, with a “significant” demand on all sorts of juices.

Similarly, Zuhair Jweihan, president of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruits and Vegetables, said the prices of all vegetables and fruits are “reasonable”, except for tomatoes.

He attributed the increase in prices of tomatoes to “an interval in production”, as the production season ends in the Jordan Valley and begins in green houses in the desert.

“A few days before Ramadan started prices of tomatoes increased to reach 250-600 fils per kilogramme,” Jweihan said, citing “abundance” in fruits and their availability at prices lower than last year.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergine and zucchini are largely used in Jordanian dishes during Ramadan, according to the merchant.

He added that the Kingdom currently exports fruits and vegetables to Gulf Arab countries, and exports several kinds of fruit to Iraq.