Blockages leave flowers withered and corn more expensive in SP

The flower stalls in São Paulo are still full and colorful. But, looking closer, it is possible to see some petals that are more wilted. A sign that replenishing stock is starting to become a problem.

Blockades made by scammers on the roads make it difficult for deliveries to arrive. “Yesterday a truck should have arrived, but it didn’t. Let’s see if they can arrive today”, says Beatriz Silva, 24, who works in two stands at Mercadão das Flores, in Vila Leopoldina, west of São Paulo. The plants come from Holambra and Ibiúna, in the interior of the state.

One of the products missing from Beatriz’s stand is the chrysanthemum, which is much sought after on All Souls’ Day, but which is not welcome by some traders. The flower, associated with tributes to the dead, has little output outside the date.

“For the supplier, [Finados] it’s the best party. they increase [o preço] and we have to buy. But the margin is very small and if you don’t sell, you take a loss”, says José Bonfim, 58, who works at a stand on Av. Dr. Arnaldo.

Sellers there told the report that they had no shortages of stock yet, because they received orders for All Souls’ Day in advance. But the movement was weak until lunchtime. The city had a cold and rainy morning. Inside the Araçá Cemetery, there were rare fresh flowers on the graves.

The question of who gets the loss in case of delivery problems has varied answers. Some suppliers undertake to compensate merchants if flowers arrive damaged or wilted due to problems along the way. In other cases, the producer is not responsible, and it is up to the sellers to absorb the loss.

So far, sellers say they have not raised prices and that the situation should return to normal if deliveries return to normal quickly. However, they show concern if the crisis extends.

“We still have plants, but they are already in stock. You can still wait a few days, but after that it would start to get complicated”, says Márcio Fumioka, 50, a partner at a stand at Mercadão das Flores. He shops in Holambra, but the auctions that took place there have been canceled in recent days. “If everything goes back to normal, maybe go there Friday.”, he plans.

Natanael Nascimento, 37, said that yesterday he received [terça] a shipment of plants from the coast, including ferns. “I’m not going to say that the protesters are wrong. It’s our future”, she comments. “Since January, the movement [de vendas] walk weak. I hope it gets better. If it gets worse, then all that’s left is to hold on to God’s hand”, he continues.

At Ceagesp (Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo), a truck with a load of corn, coming from Casa Branca, in the interior of SP, arrived after two days of travel. The route takes around 3 to 4 hours under normal conditions.

“Fortunately, the weather is cold, and this made the corn arrive good, without spoiling. If it had been too hot, we could have lost the load”, comments João Paulo Pereira, 42, who buys the product to distribute in the area. east of São Paulo. He supplies boiled green corn vendors who work on the streets.

With the difficulty for delivery, the price went up. “I paid R$ 8 more for the bag. On average, it costs about R$ 35. Today it is R$ 42, R$ 43”, says Pereira. In the truck drivers’ strike, in 2018, he points out that the value reached R$ 50.