The combination of Covid-19 and a shortage of ginger - in high demand for its immune-boosting properties - is at the root of surging prices.
Consumers are being charged as much as R480/kg for the fresh spice this week, and the Competition Commission said it noted with "great concern information doing rounds on social media regarding ginger prices".
Last year the commission received 12 complaints about ginger prices when it cost less than R150/kg. It received two more this year. One involves a Pietermaritzburg retailer that allegedly increased the price from R69 to R399.
Eleven of the complaints, according to commission spokesman Siyabulela Makunga, were not pursued because there was no evidence of these contravening the Competition Act.
"The matter is screened by the commission and a decision whether to further investigate and/or prosecute will be made in accordance with the provisions of section 8 of the Competition Act as well as consumer protection regulations," he said.
Food Lover's Market was fined R18,579 last year when it admitted that the average mark-up of 92% and gross profit margin of 47% for raw ginger at its Westgate store in Johannesburg was "unreasonably high" for an essential product during a national state of disaster.
14 - The number of complaints Competition Commission has received about ginger prices since the start of the pandemic.
R269 - R480 - The price of a kilogram of ginger this week
Consumers complained to the commission when the price reached R143.99 in May. It is now about R269 but an outlet in Port Edward was charging R480 this week.
Brian Coppin, CEO of the Food Lover's Market group, said the latest price increase was due to high demand coinciding with low supply.
"Ginger is a seasonal crop, with the harvest in South Africa generally commencing at the end of February and into March. As such, supply . is severely constrained at the moment, with the majority of the supply consisting of imported crop," he said.
"The constraint on the supply of ginger in South Africa is being exacerbated by an international shortage, which has driven up the price internationally. As a result, the ginger that is being imported is landing at a much higher price.
"We observed a similar spike in demand during the first wave of Covid-19 last year and it therefore appears that the current demand is being driven by consumers seeking to bolster their immune systems."
Peter Jarvis, of Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal, paid R128.82 for 314g of loose ginger at a Spar store this week. "It's nearly twice the price of fillet steak, ribeye, biltong and the like, and to make things worse it's poor quality," he said.
TV personality Doreen Morris tweeted a photo she took of a "Save Now" sign in Pick n Pay's Parow branch on Tuesday, advertising loose ginger at R499/kg. She called it "exploitation of the poor" but later said the supermarket called her to explain the price was an error and should have been R199.
Consumers' photos of bagged supermarket ginger reveal how widely the price ranges: R149.90/kg at Shoprite in Boksburg North, R399 at Pick n Pay in Pretoria East and R249.99 at a Durban branch of Food Lover's Market.
Underberg Spar manager Cathy Knox said the store's cost price from its supplier was high, as were prices at Durban's municipal produce market. "We are battling to get ginger due to the very high demand. It's perceived as an immune booster," she said.
Jaco Oosthuizen, CEO of the largest fresh produce sales organisation, RSA Group, said the second Covid wave had driven an "extremely strong demand for ginger".
