A client in Medellín was charged more than 50,000 pesos for a bandeja paisa. iStock
The phenomenon of inflation in Colombia has directly influenced the rise in prices of some basic foods for the family basket.
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The foregoing has forced food establishments and restaurants to raise the prices of their products or already prepared foods. However, it is no secret that many of them have also gone too far in their sales and marketing of food.
Several people have denounced the abuse in the value of dishes prepared and considered typical of the regions. In many cases, the price of the dishes is disproportionate, and even more so when they are offered to tourists from other cities or parts of the world.
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An Internet user made public her question about the price of one of the most representative dishes of Colombia: the bandeja paisa.
The user @marinitarhs wrote, through her Twitter account, that she was charged 57,000 pesos for this dish in a restaurant located in Medellín. Although you can see in the image that the tray brought all the ingredients of this preparation, they were not in large quantities.
“This Paisa tray cost $57,000. Expensive or cheap? (It was in a restaurant in Medellín).” @marinitarhs
When asked by the woman about whether the cost of the dish was expensive or not, comments from other users rained down who agreed that the price was very expensive. Many even pointed out that a bandeja paisa can be obtained in other places cheaper and with more ingredients.
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It was striking that, before the publication, he also responded “Vladdo”. The cartoonist said that the dish seemed equally expensive to him.
The cartoonist responded to a question from an Internet user about the price of the bandeja paisa in Medellín. @VLADDO
The inputs to prepare a bandeja paisa are up to 7% more expensive than a year ago (in 2022). If you look at the variation in the increase in the ingredients of the typical dish in Medellín, it turns out to be 1% more expensive than a year ago.
The main factors that make this dish more expensive are the increases in fertilizer prices and the problems in poultry feed chains.
These figures were provided by the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA), in relation to food prices per kilogram, with the exception of eggs, which do report unit prices.
Although in the first months of 2023 inflation dropped to 12.82%, compared to the previous year, ripe plantains, meat, and rice are the foods that presented the greatest variations for the preparation of the bandeja paisa.
In 2022, a kilo of bananas in the capital cost $3,253, in 2023 it registered a price of $4,270 at the beginning of May, with a variation of 31.2%. For rice the variation was 18.1% and for meat it was 18.6%.
The good news is that tomatoes and onions, fruit and vegetables, presented a significant decrease in prices, at least in Bogotá. The tomato fell by 53.5% and the onion by 47.1%, comparing the wholesale prices in the last week of April.
Despite the fact that the economy in the food sector varies rapidly and many families are affected by the rise in some basic foods, eating outside the home registers high figures. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for meals in table service and self-service establishments was 18.71%. While, if it is fast food such as pizza, hamburger or empanadas, the data was 20.27%.