The wholesale produce issue!

The same old story again...

Diesel prices go up, transportation costs rise, and then a new wave of price hikes begins for everything from A to Z.

For the people of our country, the real issue is the result this will create in the kitchen. 

Because in Turkey, diesel is present in almost every link of the chain that stretches from the field to the table.

The fact that diesel has become approximately 75 percent more expensive since the beginning of the year is more than enough to explain the scale of the problem.

On January 1, the price per liter on the European side of Istanbul was 54.46 liras, while by September 16, it had risen to 95.60 liras; in Ankara, it went from 55.43 liras to 96.75 liras.

In other words, diesel is about to cross the 100-lira mark!

We are all waiting helplessly in bazaars, markets, and grocery stores for the price tags to be changed.

With learned helplessness, there is no one to hold accountable for this anyway, and we have long since learned that we should not pin our hopes on those who are supposed to hold them accountable for us, as they are tuned to a different frequency regarding the country's burning agenda.

But we also know very well that the government does not leave its business to chance in these and similar matters.

Nothing that touches the lives of our people sticks to them, much like a "Teflon pan."

Just as we were saying, "They will find a scapegoat and pin the responsibility for the fire about to blaze in the kitchen on them," news reports surfaced a few days ago that an operation had been launched targeting the fresh fruit and vegetable market, detention warrants had been issued for 41 executives of 41 major distribution firms, and searches had been conducted at 109 workplaces and residences across 22 provinces.

The justification for the investigation was the allegation that some firms were manipulating prices upward by showing supply as low and costs as high.

Let us not leave room for misunderstandings; if there is a crime, it should certainly be investigated. If there is illicit gain, those responsible should be held accountable.

However;

When the price of diesel has increased by approximately 75 percent in less than a year, how realistic is it to pin the bill for the rise in food prices on the wholesale produce dealer (kabzımal)?

Where does the wholesale dealer fit into this system?

Let us try to explain as best we can. The wholesale dealer's truck also runs on diesel. So does the farmer's tractor, thresher, and combine harvester...

The product goes from the field to the wholesale market with diesel, is transported from the wholesale market to the warehouse with diesel, and reaches the market from the warehouse with diesel again.

Diesel is not a detail outside the chain that stretches from the field to the table; it is one of the fundamental inputs that affects the cost of the chain from start to finish.

Now, you create such a massive increase in one of the most important cost items of this chain, and then when the price of tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes rises, you present the wholesale dealer to the people of our country.

Is that reasonable?

Of course, if there is anyone manipulating the market, it should be addressed. However, setting aside the increase in diesel prices, energy costs, labor expenses, packaging, storage, and financing, and pinning the bill for food inflation on a few distributors does not mean explaining the economic reality.

Let us put on our reading glasses.

This is not the first time the government has resorted to this method.

When onion prices rose, raids were conducted on warehouses in Polatlı, and a debate on "hoarding" was carried out over the hundreds of thousands of tons of onions in the warehouses.

Yet, storing onions is a normal part of agricultural production. The producer does not deliver the harvested product to the consumer on the same day.

When sunflower oil prices rose, "hoarding" debates were brought to the agenda again, and this time, chain markets were made one of the primary culprits for exorbitant prices.

It seems it is now the wholesale dealer's turn.

The government conducts its business through the perception that "prices are rising because someone is profiteering." Of course, there are those who profiteer within this rotten system; let no one doubt that.

But what about diesel?

It, too, gets a price hike silently every time, production costs rise, transportation costs skyrocket, food becomes prohibitively expensive; and then, at the end of this whole chain, a news report about an operation is placed in front of the citizens.

Why does the government point to a different link in the chain every time instead of fighting the inflation created by these cost increases?

If the wholesale dealer is guilty, let them be held accountable. But do not hold the wholesale dealer accountable for the price of diesel.

Because if the diesel in the truck's tank is expensive, expecting the tomatoes that truck carries to remain cheap is fighting against the mathematics of economics.

You can throw a new scapegoat onto the fire in the kitchen every time. But as long as you do not remove the gasoline that fuels the fire, the result will not change, we conclude.