every day
Tons of spoiled food .. and billions wasted!
Sami Al Riyami
reyami@emaratalyoum.comsamialreyami
September 22, 2021
The total food imported to the country, during the first quarter of last year, amounted to more than 3.5 million tons, with a value exceeding 13 billion dirhams, according to the official spokesman for the Emirates Council for Food Security, Issa Al Hashemi. This means that we imported approximately 14 million tons throughout the year, Slightly more or less, and in amounts exceeding 50 billion dirhams.
Certainly this number means that there is an abundance of food supply, and that the UAE market is important and vital, and it is a major destination for exporters and food traders, and this is a good thing, and if we add to this number our local products of vegetables and fruits, these tons will increase in different proportions, as the volume of The local contribution is approximately 20.3% of the total quantities offered in the state markets, for fruits, while the contribution of local vegetables is 12.2%, and this is a remarkable development in the quantities of local production.
But this huge supply of food, especially vegetables and fruits, does not make us wonder about the actual sales volume, which is needed and consumed by the residents of the country, and then we automatically and naturally ask about the size of the damaged quantities of vegetables and fruits every year, but rather about the volume of daily damaged items in the sales outlets!
Naturally, the number is large, as the shelf life of this type of food is very limited, and some of it does not exceed three days, so it is impossible to sell all these tons, and it is impossible to consume them completely before they are damaged, even if we add to them milk, dairy products, meat and the rest of the perishable goods, We asked: Where do you go? How much money is wasted due to damage? The most important thing is the amount of spoiled food, which is considered primarily a human wealth that is difficult to think about losing it so quickly, without there being solutions and controls to preserve it, ensure its consumption, and most importantly ensure its continuity and permanence!
Dealers of vegetables and fruits do not care at all about the size of the damaged food, because the difference between the import price and the price of the final product that reaches the consumer is very large, and it covers all costs, in addition to the profit margin that is set, so it is not important for the damaged goods after reaching the desired goal, so we find Insisting on unifying prices in all stages and days of selling vegetables and fruits, and even dairy products, there is no difference between the price of these products on the day, and their price on the day of completion, because in most cases, what is sold on the day covers the profits of the rest of the days, and the result is the presence of expired quantities, which are destroyed It is thrown away, and no one benefits from it, and unfortunately no one has thought of how to stop this huge financial and food waste!
twitter@samialreyami
reyami@emaratalyoum.com
To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name.
reyami@emaratalyoum.com