“Consumer prices increased by 0.6% from August to September. We have the third highest inflation rate among all 27 EU countries,” stated Apostolos Ravtopoulos, president of the Greek Consumer Workers Union, speaking on Parapolitika 90.1 radio show “Opposite Microphones” with journalists Sotiris Xenakis and Vasilis Skouris.
Read: How much do Greek supermarkets pay in wages?
What applies to the list of 1,000 products to be sold cheaper in supermarkets?
Regarding the list of 1,000 products to be sold cheaper in supermarkets, Mr. Ravtopoulos pointed out: “Product codes and actual products are different things. A detergent, for example, has 20 different codes. One has 13 doses, 23 doses, 30 doses, 45 doses, 70 doses, etc. But the detergent is one product. The question is which codes will be included – will they include the codes with the highest demand, or will they include the codes that manufacturers want to promote?”
“Fresh products are excluded – fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, and meat are all excluded. Instead, frozen products will be included. Packaged products will be included, not deli counter items. Our question is: why should I buy a packaged 200g Gouda cheese for €4 when I can buy 200g of deli-cut Gouda for €1?” he added.
“We know that this year, durum wheat used for pasta production decreased from 28 cents to 19 cents for producers – a 32% reduction. How is it possible that the raw material dropped by 32% and this isn’t reflected on store shelves?” he concluded.
