On a chilly morning outside Ke’Geberew Market, Yeshi Chane, a 35-year-old mother cradling her seven-month-old baby, stands amidst the throng, her anxiety palpable.

Only a day earlier, she had heard of onions being sold for a mere 25 Br a kilo, a remarkable discount. Yet, with 200 Br in her purse, she found herself faced with an unanticipated challenge: the onions were part of a mandatory 500 Br package filled with other produce.

The rising price of this staple vegetable, reaching an astonishing 120 Br for a kilo on certain days, has become emblematic of the country’s broader economic challenges.

Unable to afford the offer, Yeshi returned home to scrap what was left of her civil-servant husband’s 6,000 Br monthly salary while paying 3,500 Br for rent and squeezing the rest between school supplies. However, she could not have passed 300 Br the next day. She spent three hours queuing at the doors of the Lafto area, one of the seven outlets the company runs in the capital.

“I’ll beg my way to some onions,” she told Fortune.

Enter Purpose Black, a two-year-old company, which, in the face of these skyrocketing prices, has devised a solution — or, as some critics argue, a clever marketing tactic. They have bundled five kilos of onions with an assortment of other goods, priced collectively at 500 Br.

The package system, however, has not been universally welcomed.

Addisu HaileMichael, 32, found himself begrudgingly buying the set. Though mostly content, he bristled at the inclusion of oranges. He feels coerced into buying the other items in the package.

“I did not want these,” he declared, frustrated at the company’s unwillingness to accommodate substitutions. “But they wouldn’t budge.”

Mesfin Assefa, the deputy head of the Addis Abeba Trade Bureau, pulled no punches in his criticism, seeing the company’s tactics as skirting the edges of consumer law.

“It’s complete mischief,” he said, alleging the discounted onions serve merely to offset the other items’ prices, pressuring consumers into buying the entire bundle.

The Trade Bureau is taking these concerns seriously. A stern warning letter to Purpose Black executives made clear the view that the practice is, at best, misleading, and at worst, fraudulent.

“We’ll shut them down if it persists,” Mesfin warned.

He considers the package offerings by Purpose Black as exploitative of the fleeting lull in supply, partly due to large procurements made during the successive holiday festivities and the freezing of imports from neighbouring Sudan, fueling the market chaos.

While Purpose Black has been in the public eye recently for various ventures, its rapid rise to prominence in the capital’s economic landscape is undeniable. Yet, Ermias Birhanu (PhD), the company’s Deputy Board Chairman and legal advisor, insisted that the accusations are misplaced.

Championing the company’s consumer-centric approach, Eremias emphasised that the package was purely optional, painting a picture starkly at odds with the experiences of consumers like Yeshi and Addisu.

“We would be violating the law if we did that,” he told Fortune, countering accusations that they are cornering the market.

But the nuances of this might be even more intricate. Ermias pointed to the potential of outside forces, including competitors and onion suppliers, trying to tarnish the company’s reputation because “they cannot compete” with Purpose Black’s aggressive marketing strategy. The legal advisor ardently maintains that no forced purchases have occurred. He acknowledged that the company had capped purchases of onions at five kilos upon learning that they were being resold by merchants taking advantage of their pricing.

Onions have always been more than just a vegetable in Ethiopia. As one of the world’s most significant consumers, the country sees the bulb as a dietary staple. Its skyrocketing price, therefore, has both tangible and symbolic repercussions.

The city’s central vegetable hub, Atkilt Tera near Haile Garment neighbourhood in the southeastern part of the capital, has been a barometer of this crisis. Here, traders like Worku Negese speak of baffling price escalations, with a resigned acceptance that underscores the complexity of the problem.

“We don’t know what happened,” said Worku.

He said intermittent increments of five Birr have finally sent shockwaves to the market unbeknownst to dealers and traders alike.

More seasoned players in the market, such as Kurabachew Yidnekachew, link the price upsurge to the country’s political unrest, particularly in the violent conflicts in Amhara Regional State. The conflict has forced drivers to divert routes, exponentially increasing the cost of transportation.

“The markets won't stabilise anytime soon at this rate,” said Kurabachew, echoing a sentiment many in the trade shared.

However, the City Trade Bureau offers a different perspective. While the officials from the Trade Bureau recognise the current economic and political challenges, they also hint at some systemic issues, like the role of intermediaries who might be exploiting the situation.

While onions might seem like a mere vegetable to outsiders, the intricate web of economics, politics, and culture they have entangled within Ethiopia provides a vivid snapshot of the country’s challenges and its uncertain path forward. Ethiopia is one of the biggest consumers of onions in the world, ranked at 35th with annual two percent growth projected to reach 400,000tn in 2026. The price of onions will have widespread dietary implications, albeit the dismissal of nutritionists.

Nutritionists like Zelalem Kebede (PhD) have been encouraging Ethiopians to diversify their diets. She views the onion’s dominant role in local cuisine more as a cultural preference than a dietary necessity.

“People should learn to update recipes,” she advised.

As with most crises, adaptation and resilience become the way forward. Residents like Weletermariam Mamo, 58, have already started recalibrating their consumption patterns in the face of this economic upheaval. She is among those who have heeded the recommendations from the nutritionists, cutting down by half her 10kg biweekly purchases.

“I had to adjust to the soaring prices,” she said.

With such adaptability and the potential for solutions, there remains a glimmer of hope for Ethiopia’s economic landscape, even as the onion remains at its tumultuous centre.

Previously, when domestic onion supplies dwindled during the heavy rainfall season, Ethiopia turned to its neighbour, Sudan, for relief. The situation was manageable, with imports averaging around 1.4 million dollars worth of onions annually. But this year, a combination of factors, including the freezing of imports from Sudan and internal logistical challenges, has disrupted this traditional balance.

The Oromia Regional State, fondly referred to as ‘The Onion Belt,’ especially between Zeway and Meki, has historically been the heartbeat of onion cultivation. Yet, despite having a vast land area dedicated to this crop, a supply shock has emerged, shaking the confidence of both consumers and traders.

Tesfaye Gesho, deputy head of the Oromia Trade Bureau, points to the current rainy conditions as the root cause of this imbalance.

“It’ll be scarce for the next few months,” he cautioned.

Given that 300,000 farmers had projected the production of approximately 12 million quintals of onion last year, the gravity of the current shortage becomes even more pronounced. Despite a whopping 89,044hct being covered by onion, a supply shock has transpired in the Oromia region. As onions become a scarce commodity there, officials have resorted to sourcing them from the neighbouring Somali and Amhara regional states at inflated prices.