Many trades in Hanoi built up large inventories of vegetables for fear of the food scarcity because of typhoon Haiyan, and are now sitting on large amounts of product that is difficult to move.
Traders overstock foods
By late November 11, the vegetable stall of Mrs Hoa in Thanh Xuan District was still full of different kinds of varieties of products. Still, that day the amount she sold was lower than normal for an average day.
She said, “I thought when I saw many people trying to stock up on food in case of the effects of the storm that I would have enough to provide their needs. Now I have a big inventory that may go rotten."
According to Hoa, after storms, vegetable prices usually increase due to heavy rains. However, the typhoon Haiyan only directly affected the northern province of Quang Ninh, which is more than 100km far from Hanoi, Hanoi was not seriously effected. Most of vegetables in Hanoi come from some northern localities, including Hai Duong and Hung Yen.
At Trieu Khuc Market, traders also faced the slow sales of vegetables. One seller said many people had already bought food for storage and did not need to stock up.
Traders said their business situation would become better after some days to come when people will have used up their stored food.
Nguyen Thi Nga, from Dong Da District, Hanoi, said, "I'm happy that the storm has passed, but the family would still needs food until the end of this week.”
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ly at Nam Dong residential area said her family’s refrigerator is full of various kinds of foods. This food can be enough for her family to last until next week.
Some days ago after hearing about the typhoon, many people in Hanoi rushed to markets and supermarkets to buy food for storage. Many local supermarkets were still crowded at closing time.
