ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WEEP: Price-Hit Shoppers Scramble For Cheap Onions

Story By:  Ana MarjanovicSub-EditorMichael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

Astonishing footage of shoppers pushing and shoving for cheap onions has emerged from Brazil where soaring princes have sparked panic buying.

The scenes were filmed at a supermarket in Planaltina in Brazil’s Federal District on 1st May.

According to reports, the Atacadao Dia a Dia store had only opened last week and was offering cut-price onions.

Shoppers fight over onion on sale at a low price in Planaltina, Brazil, on 1st April. (Newsflash)

The store had slashed the price from to BRL 0.99 (GBP 0.16) a kilo, around a fifth of the average price of BRL 4.99 (GBP 0.78).

As a result of the offer, shoppers scrambled to fill their trolleys with the cheap veg.

With food prices soaring and putting pressure on household budgets, customers took advantage of the store’s low offer.

Shoppers fight over onion on sale at a low price in Planaltina, Brazil, on 1st April. (Newsflash)

In a statement, the supermarket said that they regretted the scenes caused by the offer, adding that it was “sad” the incident was “exposed in images circulating on social media”.

The company said: “No promotion justifies violence.”

According to the latest information from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), a kilo of onion rose 10.5 per cent in the last 12 months. The product had a price high of 20.71 per cent in April compared to March.

Shoppers fight over onion on sale at a low price in Planaltina, Brazil, on 1st April. (Newsflash)

On Monday, the price of a 20-kilo bag of onions cost BRL 130 (GBP 20.40), amounting to a per kilo cost of BRL 6.50 (GBP 1.02), and a price increase of 23.08 per cent compared to 21st March when it was BRL 100 (GBP 15.7).

Overall, prices for fruit and vegetables are reportedly 15 percent more expensive than in the same period in 2021.