In the last year the price of the frisoles, soul and nerve of the paisa tray, tripled. According to the records of the Dane Agricultural Sector Price and Supply Information System, a kilo of grain in September of the previous year was worth $7,655, and last month it was priced at $15,456.
The value of food has been exceeding the upward curve observed by food inflation, which in the last twelve months stood at 26%. Over the weekend at the Central Mayorista de Antioquia, a kilo of cargo beans was $18,000 and in neighborhood stores in Medellin it was $22,000.
What is driving the cost of the legume and taking it to these levels? José Ignacio Duque, manager of Mundial de Granos y Panelas, explains that there are several reasons for this increase. One of them is the market’s response to the global increase in protein prices, and beans are one of them. Another reason is the winter in Colombia, since its impact is overwhelming against this type of crop, whose productivity is greatly affected.
Added to the above is the high cost of production inputs, including fertilizers, ureas, insecticides, pesticides and packaging, which impact this agricultural sector.
In addition, the shortage of labor to attend to these tasks in the field has become another problem for growers who require personnel at precise times of the year.
Beans, according to Duque, are one of the products that are sensitive to price variations and their high cost makes consumers migrate to other protein options such as lentils or chickpeas.
Contrary to popular belief that the cargo bean is the most demanded, this marketer assures that people prefer other varieties, including medium-sized red beans.
So why is cargo mantle the most expensive? “Because of the production process. This is a very delicate species and requires a lot of care. It gives a very beautiful grain and shows, and we are very visual, we believe that the largest and most exuberant grains are the ones with the best flavor”.
Another sign of the high cost of the product is felt when ordering a tray with beans, because at the beginning of the year this and an executive menu had the same value, but now in many restaurants the prices are different, and that of the plate with beans is older.
dry and green
In the dynamics of the Central Mayorista, 95% of buyers prefer dry beans to green beans in their different varieties: red and white cargo, haze, nima, radical, Uribe, blanquillo or catalino.
In the last five years, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, the cultivated area of beans in the country has averaged 92,687 hectares, and production has been 115,150 tons.
Nariño and Santander appear as the departments with the largest area planted with beans in the country, but they do not have the highest yields (1.1 tons per hectare), while in Putumayo, in the Sibundoy Valley, production is higher (2 tons per hectare).
Antioquia, Huila, Cundinamarca, Tolima and Boyacá are other producing areas of this food. It is worth noting that in 2020 there was a 9% decrease in cultivated areas compared to 2019, due to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
This is a crop that adapts well at altitudes ranging from 800 meters above sea level to 2,800 meters and at temperatures between 13 and 28 degrees Celsius. It requires loamy, loose soils with good drainage, as it does not tolerate waterlogging.
At this point, the ministry adds that there are two kinds of beans from which several species are derived. The first is the bushy, low-growing; then comes the fickle, bushy growth.
In the country, fickle beans are mostly consumed since the consumer prefers a larger grain and better cooking. The annual per capita consumption of beans in Colombia is between three and four kilos, says the Ministry of Agriculture.
In turn, imports in the last five years totaled some 29,635 tons on annual average, which came from Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, the United States, Canada and even Bolivia.
The high price of beans is added to that of other products in the family basket that during the last year have had the same behavior, including cassava that accumulates an inflation of 131.08%, onions with 92.81% and bananas. with 65.89%, causing household finances to feel drowned.
The inflation data published by the Dane for the last twelve months placed the indicator at 10.84%, and the analysts’ projections suggest that by the end of the year it will not fall below two digits.
With these estimates, it could be said that the beans are going to be very watery.
115.000
tons of beans the country produces on average each year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
