Measures to tackle rising food prices: After outlet inspections, when will goods become cheaper?

At the latest within 6 months, the state's measures against the food prices speculation are expected to lead to a decrease in prices, the Head of the Commission for Consumer Protection Stoil Alipiev told BNT on March 6. In his words, cheaper prices are expected especially for the goods, the pricing of which is the result of unfair trade practices and these are mainly food products. According to the data of the Commission for Commodity Exchanges and Auctions, despite the inspections, the food prices continued to rise in the first days of March.

Inspections in shops in Bulgaria find food price speculation

In recent months, the commission for protection of consumers has checked prices in more than 470 commercial food outlets and found 452 infringements. 200 were related to unfair practices. Misleading information from traders is prevalent. Often they attract consumers with promotional goods that are not available. False advertisements such as '3 for the price of 2' or 'today only at this price' were identified in many shops.

"These unfair trade practices used by the big market players, who hold 50-60% of the market, distort the whole market, attract smaller traders and are a prerequisite for artificially inflating prices," said Stoil Alipiev, chairman of the Commission for.Consumer Protection

According to him, the inspections revealed overcharges by traders exceeding 90%. Moreover, they were carried out in different parts of the country in large retail chains. His prediction is that despite the measures taken by the state, the results will be felt in a few months.

"After all, once such violations are detected, there are administrative deadlines that have to elapse before the specific order banning unfair trade practices is issued. We need time for precise processing of all documentation, after all the acts of the CPC are subject to judicial review," said Stoil Alipiev, chairman of the Commission for Consumer Protection.

Measures against profiteering are expected to yield results within six months, the CPC chairman said.

Traders are divided in their assessment of whether the checks have led to cheaper prices. Plamen Panayotov is the manager of a grocery shop in Rousse. He says that many of his colleagues have gone bankrupt, and in order to survive and not lose customers, he puts minimum mark-ups. So far, he says, checks have not brought prices down.

"Every day they bring my goods with prices up, every day. And when I talk to the suppliers, every time, it has become like a routine to ask “Is there a price hike?”, and every time the answer is “yes”. If it's not every time, it is 50%. Today if there's no increase, the next day there will be. It's constant. Is it just food? No, it is for all goods. The prices of cosmetics goes up, handbags....., the prices of absolutely everything go up."

"At the beginning of the year there was a slight increase, but now the prices have held back a bit. There was a slight drop in the prices of some types of cheese, but not everything, some types of yellow cheese and cheese," said Maria Peneva, a trader from Varna.

There is no change, I did some shopping just now. Now a friend has paid BGN 7 for 10 eggs. With cheese, when they take it, everyone in the chain puts 20% and it becomes very expensive.

BNT: Do you believe that for the next three months there will be a result and prices will go down?

- I don't think so. We don't have experience in years of prices going down in our country.

- I don't sense a change in prices. Prices are high and there is speculation mostly because of the resellers. Cucumbers, for example, tomatoes, the growers because of the fear of higher gas being used in the greenhouses, did not sow and this year there will be zero year of mass production of tomatoes and hence the final prices will now go up.

"Everybody is looking at cutting costs. People buy the most necessary things and that's it - bread, salami - from the cheapest, little things like that, cheese - and in the smallest possible quantities. People have no money," said Plamen Panayotov, manager of a grocery shop in Rousse.

Data from the Commodity Exchanges and Auctions Commission show that the rise in food prices continued in the first days of March. The prices of greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers, carrots, oranges and chicken meat have gone up in price.

However, some products became cheaper. These include sunflower oil, potatoes, apples and butter.

Images by BGNES/archive