Japan Home Centre held its “Pay with Sibuyas” campaign on Saturday, February 4, allowing customers to use onions as payment at its Panay Avenue branch in Quezon City.

Under the one-day promotion, shoppers could swap one onion in exchange for a selected in-store product, with a maximum of three items allowed per purchase.

The retail store accepted all kinds of onions for select merchandise, and Japan Home Centre stated that all collected onions would be given to a community pantry that provides free food for those in need.

Management routed every bulb into a local community pantry network that distributes free food to low-income residents across Quezon City. The retailer absorbed the inventory cost directly as promotional expense and community assistance.

Barter promotions let general merchandise chains convert regional supply bottlenecks into customer foot traffic without cutting sticker prices across their wider assortment. Non-grocery discount stores step into the gap when everyday food staples turn into luxury commodities.

Financial exposure stays low because the retailer caps redemptions at three units per shopper. The chain also limits eligible SKUs to high-margin, low-cost plastic ware and kitchen sundries. These stunts generate sudden foot-traffic spikes for mall landlords and retail neighbors, but conversion into cash-paying shoppers across regular aisles stays modest once promotional stock runs out.

Domestic retail prices for onions across Metro Manila wet markets and supermarkets reached 700 pesos per kilo in December 2022. 87 pesos, per kilo recorded across 89 tracked countries.

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