"If we increase prices, people won't buy" Sesenieli, farmer and cooked food vendor at Suva market.

What happens when fuel prices rise, but customers cannot afford to pay more? Fuel prices are announced on the news and displayed at every service station, but the people who quietly absorb their impacts are rarely seen. Across Suva’s markets, small-scale vendors, farmers and traders, the essential but often overlooked people who underpin Suva’s local food system, make difficult choices every day to keep food affordable for their communities, often at the expense of their own incomes.

Across Suva, rising fuel and living costs squeezed already narrow margins, leaving many with little choice but to absorb higher costs themselves. While Government measures such as subsidised bus fares eased some immediate pressures, interviews revealed hidden impacts, from shrinking profits to changing business practices, that will linger long after fuel prices eased. In protecting their customers, many vendors became the shock absorbers of  fuel price increase, highlighting the need for targeted policies that address both the direct and indirect impacts of future price shocks.

Affordability set the price

The strongest finding was simple: vendors found it difficult to raise prices. Customers were already financially stretched, and even small increases often meant fewer sales. To retain customers, vendors absorbed rising transport, production and input costs rather than passing them on, although the magnitude of impact varies depending on how the channel fuel prices are transmitted to their business. Rather than being passed on to consumers, higher fuel costs were absorbed by small-scale vendors, for whom customer affordability became the overriding consideration.

Adapting to survive

Unable to recover costs through price increases, respondents adopted a range of practical strategies to protect their livelihoods. These adaptations reflected resilience and took many forms. They reduced portion sizes, sourced cheaper products, changed transport arrangements, grew more of their own produce and cut unnecessary travel to keep their businesses afloat, rather than passing higher costs on to consumers.

As profits fell to just FJ$5-10 per bag, Bala added cheaper cassava varieties to her stock. Sesenieli responded to rising cassava and kerosene costs with “shrinkflation”, reducing packet sizes while keeping prices unchanged, and by growing more of her own cassava to lower costs. Sanjay Abinesh Lal explained that his monthly transport costs almost doubled, forcing him to reduce the variety and quantity of goods he brought to market in order to manage rising operating costs while keeping prices affordable. 

Elsewhere, adaptation involves changing transport arrangements. Simon, a vendor at Bailey Bridge market, purchased a pair of canvas shoes so that he could walk three kilometers to work rather than paying FJ$4-6 each day for a taxi. He also observed noticeably less traffic, resulting in fewer customers and adding to the pressure of already rising operating costs. Collectively, these responses demonstrate that businesses primarily adapted through operational changes rather than by increasing prices.

Communities before profits

For many vendors, keeping food affordable mattered more than maximising profits. They deliberately accepted lower margins to support customers under financial pressure.

Apisai Seru, a farmer and vendor, deliberately sold taro below market prices to ensure lower-income households could still afford fresh food. “I feel for those unable to pay more. We are targeting those that cannot pay.” 

These responses suggest that Suva’s informal markets operate with a strong sense of community networks where customer loyalty and social responsibility frequently outweigh short-term profit maximization.

Looking beyond fuel

For many respondents, fuel prices were only part of a broader cost-of-living crisis. Rising food prices, transport costs and school fees placed growing pressure on household budgets. Venina, a market vendor supporting three younger siblings - two in primary school and one at Pacific Polytech - described the daily challenge of balancing family expenses while keeping her products affordable. Her experience shows that the impacts extended well beyond business profits to household wellbeing.

Rather than short-term fuel subsidies, respondents called for long-term solutions including better market infrastructure, agricultural machinery and more reliable public transport, to build resilience. Apisai explained that stable bus fares allowed him to continue transporting produce without increasing prices, helping to keep his produce affordable. This reflected the Fiji Government's bus fare relief measures; however, he noted that overcrowded buses still delayed vendors carrying produce, highlighting the need for more frequent services. 

Similarly, Simon argued that introducing a bus service along the Suva backroad (Nausori to Suva via Ratu Dovi Road) would significantly reduce transport costs for vendors.

Target local. Build resilience

The findings suggest that small-scale vendors became the shock absorbers of rising fuel costs, protecting consumers while absorbing the financial burden themselves. The experiences shared highlight the value of targeted interventions that strengthen local food systems and the communities they support.