By HALIMA MUHAMMAD

Many Rsidents and food vendors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have expressed concern over the continued rise in the cost of vegetables and other food items.

They said that the situation was affecting both businesses and household feeding.

The respondents, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, said they were adopting different strategies to remain in business amid rising costs.

Mrs Mary Augustine, owner of a local restaurant in the FCT, said the prices of tomatoes, pepper, and leafy vegetables had increased significantly in recent months.

“Previously, a big basket of tomatoes was being sold for between N45,000 and N48,000, but it is presently being sold for between N85,000 and N90,000.

“A 50kg bag of pepper which used to cost between N20,000 and N30,000 now sells for between N120,000 and N150,000,” she said.

She said the increase in the prices had made many food vendors to either increase the prices of the meals or reduce the portion.

“We use vegetables every day for cooking soups, stew and salads, but the prices keep increasing almost every week.

“Sometimes, we spend more than twice the amount we used to spend in the market, and customers still expect food prices and quantity served to remain the same.

“To cope with this situation, I now buy vegetables in bulk directly from farmers and preserve them to limit frequent market visits,” Augustine said.

Another food vendor, Mrs Fatima Muhammad, said that the rising cost of cooking ingredients, especially tomatoes, tatashe, shombo and pepper, had greatly affected her business, forcing her to adjust the way she prepared meals.

According to her, she no longer uses tomatoes regularly because of the high price.

“Whenever I prepare food, I usually combine tomatoes, tatashe, shombo and pepper, but the continuous increase in prices have made me change my cooking pattern.

“I now buy smaller quantities of tatashe and rely more on shombo, although it is also expensive, also pepper have become even more costly and difficult to afford in large quantities.

“Onions is the cheapest vegetables now, but while it is important for improving the taste of food, it can cause food spoilage when used excessively without proper preservation, especially due to poor electricity supply,” Muhammad said.

She said that many food vendors now depend on packaged cooking pastes and sachet pepper mixes as cheaper alternatives to fresh ingredients because of the high market prices.

According to her, using small amounts of natural ingredients when available still helps to produce good cooking results.

Muhammad advised business owners to be careful in managing prices in order to maintain customer loyalty and protect their brand reputation.

“Constant price increases or reducing food quantity can drive customers away. Business owners need to adopt different strategies to cope with the current situation while maintaining customer loyalty,” she said.

A caterer, Mrs Lateefat Yusuf, said that the rising cost of tomatoes, pepper and tatashe had forced her to adjust her business operations in order to remain in business and satisfy customers.

“I have resorted to using alternatives such as sachet tomato paste due to the continuous increase in the prices of cooking ingredients.

“The amount of money I usually spend in the market can no longer buy half of what it used to purchase.

“Sometimes, I have to go to the market with double or even triple the amount because of the high prices of the veggies which are even difficult to find these days.

“The only ingredient that have not increased significantly in price is onion, but it cannot be used alone for cooking.

“In spite the challenges, we still try our best to ensure that customers are satisfied whenever they give us catering jobs,” she said.

Mr Isah Sagir, an eatery operator said high transportation costs and post-harvest losses were contributing to the high prices of vegetables.

He said many small business owners were struggling to balance quality service with affordability.

“If we increase food prices too much, customers will stop coming. But if we keep prices low, we may not make any profit.

“So, we now use our ingredients carefully and try to avoid waste in the kitchen,” Sagir said.

Some residents, however, expressed concern over the increasing cost of food sold at eateries, saying it was affecting their feeding habits.

A housewife, Maman Zainab, said the rising cost of cooking ingredients was seriously affecting her, especially during the festive season.

“Now, we are forced to either use dried vegetables or cooking paste because fresh vegetables have become too expensive,” she said.

A civil servant, Mr Benjamin Amos, said he now spent more on meals outside his home because food vendors had increased prices.

He urged government authorities to support farmers with incentives and improve transportation systems to help reduce the cost of food items.

A vegetable farmer, Dr Abdulwahab Ishaq, said that the rising cost of vegetables was caused by economic challenges, insecurity in farming areas, high transportation costs and weather-related challenges.

He called for better support for farmers, improved storage facilities and measures to reduce waste after harvest across the country. (NAN)

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