Monterrey, Mexico – At the Mercado de Abastos, a wholesale food market in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, staples like tomatoes, potatoes, beef, and chillies have seen steep price hikes in the last few weeks, forcing customers to change their shopping habits and tighten budgets, while vendors cut profit margins or risk losing customers.“You have to buy them anyway; they’re things you use daily,” said Cesar Ramirez, a 66-year-old retiree at the market.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listWhile shop owners cite rising fuel prices, high costs in the agricultural sector, and growing extortion and theft on Mexico’s highways, international pressures are mounting. Rising global costs of fuel and fertiliser, driven by shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, are impacting Mexican producers and threatening a stable food supply, especially for low-income residents.Elvira Pasillas, professor at the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESO), noted that low-income households spend nearly 70 percent of their earnings on food. “Not only are they struggling to meet minimum nutritional requirements, but they are also spending almost all of their income on food,” she added.According to INEGI, the national statistics agency, 12-month inflation stood at 4.45 percent in April, with the consumer price index rising 0.20 percent in March. The cost of the basic food basket in urban areas rose 8.1 percent in March, outpacing general inflation, Pasillas said. …
