Decentralization of Selling of Fresh Produce in Sorsogon City

My wife and I grew up in a time that supermarkets were only available in the big cities. Plasa is the main market where the families would get their fresh food supply. Every market day, Wednesdays or Saturdays, fresh produce fill up the former Shopping Center (now SM Savemore) and the jeepney terminal would move out temporarily. And most of the residents would go buy their food supply during saod – either in plasa or in Shopping Center. And the market activities during saod (market day) was very noticeable compared to ordinary market days. The pandemic seemed to change that, aside from the fact that SM Savemore replaced Shopping Center.

At the start of the pandemic, small stores opened up in the main streets away from banwa. It was convenient for the customers who were afraid to go to plasa due to crowding and also the long queue just to get inside (LGU restricted access to the public market for safety measure during lockdown). We would buy our veggies a kilometer away from our place, just on the corner of the seminary. And it wasn’t surprising that the local residents were its first customers.

Vendors along Magsaysay Street started popping out during the quarantine. This gives the residents a a safety option instead of going to the public market.

In Bacon District, small fish vendors showed up in Brgy. Caricaran, getting their fresh fish from the fisherman that would docked in the Tolonggapo beach. Upon talking to the fish vendors in the public market in Poblacion, they decided to move their products downstairs, along the narrow street. And we would buy your fresh fish from the market vendor; from time to time, we would try the stalls in Brgy. Caricaran. The prices do not really differ much comparing it in Sorsogon, but my wife and I would also like to go around town (in a way, missing the heavy traffic unconsciously).

Fishing boats docked just beside the Bacon Pier. Fresh catch arrives around 630am, most of the catch are already contracted to the nearby fish vendors.

Last week, I noticed a new veggie/fruit vendor near the corner of AH26 and S. Escudero III Blvd. This should make it more convenient for nearby residents to get their fresh vegetables and fruits than going to banwa, considering how expensive the fare is or the gas. The new store also sells eggs.

This is a new veggie store in Brgy. Peñafrancia, near the corner of Diversion Road. This makes it more comfy for those living in the nearby Barrios instead of going to Banwa to buy fruits and veggies.

We got used to this routine during the pandemic that when the city went down to Alert Level 1, we still rarely go to plasa. Nowadays, we would get our fish (Bangus and Tilapia) from vendors in Brgy. Pangpang and in Brgy. Bulabog (or Baluco, Tahong, Talaba or chance upon some interesting fish which names I couldn’t remember).

The decentralization of such stores, though driven by the pandemic at first, is also a reflection of high number of residents from the barrios who are looking for variety of agricultural products, including non-local products like grapes (ironically, I cannot find fresh strawberries from Baguio), apples and oranges. This is good for the nearby residents, but in the long run can also be source of crowding as the local population grows.

The meat vendor near the barangay hall of Brgy. Bibincahan. Better to be there early in the morning to have more selection.

It’s also ironic that the small talipapa in Brgy. Bibincahan (inside Subvdibisyon) and Brgy. Basud are not bustling with activities; the former has no vendors at all, while the latter has very limited products. On one hand, it’s also an influence of supply/demand, which explains why there’s not much interest on the existing barangay talipapa.