Tomatoes turned into red gold

October 20, 2025 (MLN): What was once the humble heart of every Pakistani curry has now become a luxury; tomatoes have turned into red gold.

In Karachi, the city’s bustling markets are witnessing an unprecedented twist as tomatoes are now costlier than chicken, selling between Rs450 and Rs550 per kilogram, and even touching Rs600 in some areas.

Chicken meat, by comparison, seems almost affordable at around Rs450 per kg.

Data over the past eight years reveals how sharply tomato prices have diverged from their historical pattern.

For most of the past eight years, chicken has comfortably remained the pricier protein, trading between Rs150 and Rs350 per kilogram, while tomatoes hovered in a modest Rs30 to Rs120 range.

Tomatoes spike briefly during seasonal shortages, but that rhythm broke last year.

From mid-2024 onwards, tomato prices began climbing steeply, rising from under Rs100 per kg in June 2024 to over Rs300 by October 2025, eventually crossing Rs550 per kg in Karachi. 

Pakistan’s food inflation is no longer just about wheat and sugar; it is creeping into everyday vegetables.

The surge has stunned consumers and traders alike. At the same time, it shows how fragile Pakistan’s food supply chain remains in the face of climate shocks, import disruptions, and market inefficiencies.

Shoppers who once bought tomatoes by the kilo are now counting them piece by piece.

Never before in Pakistan’s history have tomatoes crossed this threshold that turned an everyday ingredient into a rare commodity.

At Karachi’s Sunday bachat bazaars, shoppers wandered from stall to stall in disbelief. “If we sell at Rs280, the official rate, we will face losses,” said a stallholder in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, pointing to his empty crates.

The official price list pegs tomatoes at Rs280 per kg, but enforcement appears weak, as both shopkeepers and vendors blame surging wholesale prices.

Wholesalers attribute the spike to flood-hit supply routes in Punjab and a delay in Sindh’s local crop, which usually stabilizes prices by October.

Nearly 90% of Karachi’s demand is currently being met through imports from Iran, while supplies from Afghanistan remain suspended.

Even in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the situation mirrors Karachi’s plight. Tomato prices there have hit Rs550 per kg, more than three times the official rate of Rs170, prompting consumers to buy only a few tomatoes at a time or skip them altogether.

Many households have turned to tomato paste, yogurt, or even tamarind to add tang to their meals.

Traders say Balochistan’s crop has nearly ended, and imports from Iran have dropped, while border closures amid regional tensions have disrupted Afghan supplies.

Relief, they believe, will only come next month when Sindh’s new harvest reaches markets.

According to Gallup Pakistan, citing the Household Integrated Economic Survey (2018–19), an average household spent Rs173 a month on tomatoes, a figure that today wouldn’t buy even half a kilogram.

And while Pakistanis consume an estimated 8 kilograms per person annually, as per a study published in the Journal of Bioresource Management, affordability is fast slipping away.

From peas to ginger, the prices of other essentials are also rising by Rs50–Rs100 per kg.

Tomatoes, once a symbol of everyday abundance, have become a mirror of Pakistan’s fragile food supply chain, where a single flood or delayed harvest can now upend household budgets nationwide.

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