Most farmers in Taiwan are small farmers who produce not much, but their production fields spread throughout the country. With so many farmers with different capacities producing only a limited amount of vegetables or fruits, transactions seem to be quite complicated. Taipei First Fruits and Vegetables Market and Taipei Second Fruits and Vegetables Market complete the purchase and sale of large amounts of fresh fruits every day. “We receive 2,000 metric tons of vegetables and fruits in a few hours every day, including 150 kinds of vegetables and 40-50 kinds of fruits, and complete transactions quickly to spread them out and there can be no mistake in the process. Vegetables and fruits are delivered to Taipei First Market at 3: 00 p.m. every day and all transactions are completed with the market being cleaned already by 6: 00 a.m. the next day,” said General Manager Chang.

Pursuing high efficiency and resolving problems related to sale in a short time in order to maintain the freshness of vegetables and fruits are the duty-bound responsibility of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co.

Setting the prices is the marketing company’s second function.

Who exactly is deciding on the prices? “They are actually decided by consumers without their knowing,” noted the general manager. It turns out that consumers decide the prices of vegetables and fruits by the act of consumption. For example, if no consumer buys or eats them, then their prices are zero no matter how high were the production costs. And such vegetables and fruits will be eliminated from the market by consumers. On the contrary, the prices of vegetables and fruits popular among consumers will be raised even if their production costs were quite low.

“The prices of vegetables and fruits, in fact, are the balance point between supply and demand,” explained Chang. “The situation is different from day to day, so we will try to find the balance point almost every day, aiming to sell out all vegetables and fruits purchased for the day. In reality the prices of vegetables and fruits are most unstable in the wholesale market.” The prices for the same amount of vegetables and fruits on Wednesday and Sunday are different because there are fewer consumers in metropolitan Taipei on Wednesday. And some vegetables and fruits may not even be sold at a much lower price. But Sunday is the time for family purchases and the prices of vegetables and fruits will be raised naturally due to increased demand.

Moreover, weather in Taiwan changes rather rapidly. Maybe yesterday was sunny, but it rains the whole day today. And in a rainy day fewer people go out to buy vegetables and fruits and their prices will drop. Typhoon is also an important factor affecting the prices. It maybe only three days from the forming of a typhoon to it approaches and sweeps Taiwan to lead to disaster, but the three days can significantly flip the prices of agricultural products.

Then how come the prices in place of production and market are different? This has something to do with the size of markets. Farmers will be highly profitable with even the profit of NT$1 per kilogram in a very large market, but a profit of NT$10 per kilogram in a small market is still not enough for them to maintain adequate living.

At present auction is the simplest and most credible way of transacting agricultural products. Traders have attached great importance to the transaction platform of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co. since it adopts the computer bidding system and sets the prices for all transactions through a computer-aided system. Even though the prices in Taipei may not be realized exactly in Kaohsiung, other vegetables and fruits markets and traders throughout the country always pay close attention to agricultural product transaction prices in Taipei.

“The dispute over prices being good or bad is not necessarily the wholesale market’s problem. Agricultural products of the same grade maybe worthless if sent to the wrong place,” said General Manager Chang. Thus, in addition to providing the transaction platform, a wholesale market must assist and guide farmers to not only produce the right agricultural product to meet consumer demand but also sell the right products to the right consumers so as to maximize the value of Taiwan vegetables and fruits.