Prices for Chinese garlic, which represents 75% of global supply, have risen 10-fold over two years on demand shortfalls. One commercial garlic supplier said: "We are having to put up prices and it's not going down well with customers." One manufacturer said: "We have seen a massive increase in the price of garlic."

The latest data from Frost & Sullivan suggests Chinese garlic prices peaked in November 2009, although they remain high, but other ready meal firms bemoaned rocketing prices in other areas. Leyla Edwards, md of KK Fine Foods, said supply shortfalls of onion crops due to bad weather had caused prices to double in the past year. However, she expected them to ease from October. "Other ingredients that have gone up [this year] are lamb, by over 40%, butter, by 22%, and frozen chicken, by 30%," she added.