On the eve of Yalda Night, the longest night of the year in Iranian culture, a 40% to 100% increase in the prices of nuts, dried fruits, and sweets has significantly reduced demand, to the point that some sellers are offering installment purchases and even accepting checks as a way to attract customers.
The state-run website Didban Iran wrote on Thursday, December 18, citing “official reports,” that the prices of various types of nuts and dried fruits have risen by 40% compared to last year, and by up to 100% for some items such as pistachios and cashews.
The website, quoting figures from the nut-selling trade, identified rising production costs, currency fluctuations, and higher packaging expenses as the main factors behind the price surge.
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According to the report, sellers say demand has declined noticeably compared to last year.
Mehdi Bakhtiari-Zadeh, acting head of Tehran Municipality’s Fruit and Vegetable Markets Organization, said on Wednesday, December 17, that the price of Yalda Night nuts has increased by 40% to 45% compared to last year.
According to him, the final price of sweet nut mixes with baslouq this year is 6.66 million rials per kilogram, while last year people bought the same amount for about 4 million to 4.5 million rials. At present, one US dollar is worth about 1.31 million rials, and the base monthly wage of a worker with two children barely reaches 115 dollars.
Didban Iran noted that following rising prices and declining purchasing power, some shops and nut sellers have been forced to adopt alternative methods to attract customers, such as “installment sales” and even “accepting checks” for nut purchases.
Sweets in boxes that grow smaller by the day
Rising prices and economic hardship have also changed the true taste of “sweets.” For many, sweets are no longer sweet but instead a reminder of the bitterness of being unable to afford even simple items.
The state-run ILNA news agency quoted the head of the Tehran Confectioners, Pastry Sellers, and Café-Confectioners Union as saying: “We have no shortage of raw materials for sweets, but due to high prices, purchases have been reduced to half-kilogram boxes.”
From Ali Bahramand’s remarks to ILNA, it can be concluded that the prices of oil and eggs—two essential ingredients for baking sweets—have increased by about 167% and 200%, respectively, compared to the same period last year, causing sweet purchases to drop by half compared to last year.
The price hikes ahead of Yalda Night come as the prices of essential goods have risen in recent months with government approval.
The prices of dairy products, which are key ingredients for many Yalda sweets and snacks, have increased significantly.
In recent days, dairy prices have seen sudden and sharp increases, and in the absence of effective market oversight, livelihood pressures on families have intensified. Dairy products have long been removed from the food basket of low-income groups, making malnutrition a common condition for them.
This comes as Iranian regime officials have repeatedly spoken of supporting the public and controlling prices, while the daily experience of citizens shows that prices in Iran rise on a daily basis and living costs are no longer affordable for many families.
