Vegetables Pricier Than Pork Worry Chinese Consumers as Costs Swell

Peppers are seen at a greenhouse in Shanghai, China on May 25, 2021. Aly Song/Reuters

BEIJING—Vegetable prices are surging in China after heavy rain swamped crops this month, fuelling concern over food prices at a time when consumers must brace for a hike in energy costs in the run-up to winter.

Unusually heavy rains drenched northern swathes of China in September and early this month, flooding the top vegetable-growing province of Shandong.