Filenews 5 August 2025 - by Angelos Angelodimou
Noticeable fluctuations are recorded in the prices of products in supermarkets, which are included in the e-kalathi. The Cyprus Consumers' Association in its announcement yesterday notes that it has proceeded to an analysis of the prices of the products included in the e-kalathi, for the period 29 July to 3 August 2025 and presents the main conclusions that emerged from the processing of the recorded prices. The analysis is done between five major supermarkets, which have the most common products compared to other supermarkets.
More specifically, as noted in the announcement of the Consumers' Association, out of the 478 product codes included in the e-kalathi, a total of 267 common codes were identified in the supermarkets Sklavenitis, Athienitis, Ioannidis, Metro and Alpha Mega.
As the Association notes, a comparison on July 29, 2025 of the total cost of the 267 common products showed the following results in order: Sklavenitis €926.52, Athienitis €979,49, Ioannidis €1025,85, Metro €1047.76 and Alpha Mega €1049.87.
The cost of the same supermarkets in the provinces (those with stores in other provinces) remains unchanged, according to the Association.
It notes that among the 267 common products, on August 3, 2025, the Alpha Mega supermarket had a total of 89 products on offer, Athienitis 16 and Sklavenitis 2. "A comparison between the offers of the above supermarkets showed that 78 out of the 89 offers of the Alpha Mega supermarket were higher than the usual prices of the Sklavenitis supermarket and 60 were higher than the usual prices of the Athienitis supermarket," the Association characteristically states.
In conclusion, it is emphasized that the specific conclusions were based and documented exclusively by the prices recorded in the e-kalathi, while the Association assures that it will monitor the formation of prices in the e-kalathi and will continue to transparently publish its conclusions, which will come from the processing and evaluation of the prices.
The comment of K. Karagiorgis
Asked to comment on the implementation of e kalathi, the Director of the Consumer Protection Service, Konstantinos Karagiorgis, noted to "F" that what the Government sought to do and implemented is to give consumers a tool with which they will be able to compare the prices of supermarket products.
In the first phase, there is satisfaction, he added, as more than 10,000 have downloaded the specific application on their mobile phones. However, it is understood that in this particular period, the concern of consumers is the holidays and not so much the shopping. Therefore, a more indicative picture for the use of the application can emerge after September, he noted, adding that the Service is looking forward to a gradual use of the tool by consumers.
It is recalled that the e-kalathi was put into public use from June 12, 2025. Its platform includes the 478 products with the highest consumption, divided into 20 categories, while in the course of time these may be increased or even replaced by other products, which may have even greater demand than the existing ones. The platform has 167 stores, representing 22 supermarket chains.
