Filenews 31 July 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The Department of Agriculture promotes a series of initiatives through the creation of new tools in order to reduce the price gap between producer and consumer.
These tools aim to strengthen farmers' position in the supply chain and, at the same time, enhance transparency. The aim of the Department of Agriculture, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, is to support producers to have a fair income and provide consumers with high quality products at affordable prices.
The first measure is the operation of the digital tool "e-kofini", in which consumers can see the average prices as listed every Monday and Thursday through the website of the Department of Agriculture and in a Viber community.
Furthermore, the European Commission, as part of its efforts to strengthen the position of farmers in the supply chain, proposes, among other things, the creation of an observatory on production costs, profit margins and trading practices, which will contribute to enhancing transparency.
The above is the response of the Ministry of Agriculture to the relevant announcement of the Cyprus Consumers Association regarding the marketing of perishables and their retail selling prices.
The Consumers' Association identifies an excessive increase in retail prices for the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables compared to producer prices, noting that the problem affects not only consumers, but also producers, who are not paid according to the price paid by the consumer.
In an association survey covering 30 types of fruit and vegetables, it found "worrying evidence that appears to justify consumers' concerns that there is an excessive increase in retail prices".
According to the results of the survey, in 27 out of 30 species the percentage of gross profit in the price paid to the producer exceeds 107%, which according to the Association exceeds the "reasonable total percentage of gross profit" which it estimates at 50-60% of the price paid to the producer.
