Tortilla Prices In Mexico

Context

This dataset consists of 270k+ records of tortilla prices from Mexico's national System of Information and Market Integration, which surveys 53 cities, 384 mom-and-pop stores, and 120 retail stores that sell "tortillas" throughout Mexico.

Mexico's Bureau of Economic Affairs publishes the information in this site based on a survey made across the whole country. Still, it is not very friendly so the information since 2007 was downloaded and stored it in one easy-to-use CSV file.

The price on each record consists of the mean prices for all observations made during that day, city, and state. The price shown on the file is for 1 (one) kilogram of tortilla in Mexican peso ($MXN).

If you don't know what a "tortilla" is, the article in Wikipedia is a good start to get you up and running.

Inspiration

Tortilla is one of Mexico's most important foods, it is made almost entirely of milled corn and water, which forms a dough that is cooked for some minutes before being stored and ready to sell. It is similar to Naan bread, commonly known for its use in Indian cuisine, but made out of corn instead of wheat. Tortillas are sold in packages of 1 kilogram, which, depending on their size, can have around 40 to 50 tortillas per kilogram. Mom-and-pop stores can sell tortillas in fractions of kilograms.

This dataset contains information from both mom-and-pop stores (small stores located near living areas dedicated only to selling fresh tortillas) as well as from big retailers (such as Walmart, which sells tortillas in Mexico in almost all of its stores).

Example of a typical mom-and-pop store (aka "Tortillería") in Mexico

Example of a stand selling tortillas in Walmart

Several interesting facts can be made regarding the price of tortillas in these two types of stores... surprisingly, retail stores sell tortillas way below prices of mom-and-pop stores, while at the same time, mom-and-pop stores usually sell tortillas to people with less income than those who buy them in a retail store.

The price difference between retailers and mom-and-pop stores has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, as can be seen in the next figure.

The purpose of publishing this dataset is to raise awareness of the importance of food price monitoring and the impact those prices can have on people's lives.

Thumbnail photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash