Fiesta de San Juan: Juan’s price rises due to rising costs

It’s June 24th San Juan holiday in honor of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of the regions UkayaliSan Martin and Loreto, and as expected, the jungle is more colorful than ever, warning of some activities and attracting tourists with tasty dishes like juane.

What is John?

This signature dish is made from rice and chicken stew seasoned with jungle spices and wrapped in bijao leaf, which gives it its characteristic flavor.

According to Peru Travel, its origins date back to pre-Hispanic times with the huanar, which the ancient Peruvians from Putumayo in Loreto used to wrap their food in banana leaves and bijao.

Although another theory suggests that juane is a depiction of Saint John the Baptist, patron of the Peruvian Amazon.

Resource prices are rising

Given Juan’s high demand for Feast of Saint JohnThe price of a dish has gone up from S/15 to S/20 as a result of the increase in the cost of inputs such as farm chicken, which has doubled in price, and eggs.

“An egg cell costs 7 to 8 sols, but now it has doubled to S/17. That little chicken was about S/35, now it’s worth S/50 to S/65, the butter has also increased by 3 sols. and rice went up by S/1 or S/1.5″.said Etty Flores, the seller of this dish.

Flores also added that, despite the high cost of food, traditions are stronger and their sales are not declining. The merchant plans to sell at least 100 huan on June 24, the central day of this patron saint.

After two years of the pandemic, the “tastiest juan” is back

Although the pandemic due to the novel coronavirus has slowed down celebrations of the San Juan Festival, the Tastiest Juan contest and banana stouts have returned with the decline in incidence.

This year the winner was Mrs. Dolores Noriega, who represented the human settlement of Mario Dolvi Franchini, she said that the preparation of juan is a family heritage.

There was also a banana porter competition, which was attended by six stevedores, and the winner was Alejandro Condor Salas, a 33-year-old man who only started working at the dock three months ago. Pucallpa.

The loader can carry up to 120 kg. In this trade, the day starts at 4 am and ends at 8 pm on average, not because they are tired, but because there are no more goods to transport. During this day, each docker brings up to 70 soles of daily income.