Filenews 3 September 2025 - by Angelos Angelodimou
Three months after the operation of the e-kalathi, prices remain almost unchanged, with reductions moving below 1%, according to the president of the Consumer Association, Marios Drousiotis. A survey by the Association has shown huge differences in the cost of the same basket of products between supermarkets, which exceed €100 and many offers do not necessarily correspond to lower prices.
Speaking to "F", the president of the Consumer Association, Marios Drousiotis, noted that having already passed a period of three months since the operation of e-kalathi, some interesting conclusions emerge:
(1) Despite the announcements made by the competent authorities, the decrease in prices is imperceptible and, in particular, below 1%.
(2) For the same basket of products, for which the relevant research was conducted, there is a huge difference in prices, between the cheapest and the most expensive supermarket, which exceeds €100.
(3) The association's investigation showed that of the 76 products offered by a particular supermarket, the prices for 66 of them were the same or even higher than that of another supermarket which did not offer exactly the same products. Therefore, Mr. Drousiotis advised, consumers should look at the final price of the product and not the fact that it is on offer.
Mr. Drousiotis clarified that the comparison of the Consumer Association is made between the 260 common products with the same barcode included in the e-kalathi. What needs to be made clear is that every supermarket has products that may be cheaper than those included in the e-kalathi, such as private labels or products that are not imported directly from dealerships. Therefore, the term cheaper or more expensive supermarket refers exclusively to the products included in the e-kalathi.
As Mr. Drousiotis added, the reason for the comparison between the five supermarkets is because they have the most products from e-kalathi (Sklavenitis, Athienitis, Metro, Ioannidis, Alpha Mega). In this regard, Mr. Drousiotis noted that other supermarkets, which also have a significant presence in the Cypriot market, such as Lidl, are not included in the comparison, because they have much fewer products on their shelves than those found in e-kalathi. Specifically: Fewer products: Lidl with just 117 codes, Pop Life with 170. More products: Sklavenitis (461), Ioannidis (433), Metro (412), Athienitis (399), Alpha Mega (371).
From the Association's research, it appears that the difference between the cheapest and the most expensive supermarket exceeds €104 for the same basket of products. Sklavenitis came out cheaper in all the main categories. In particular, according to the results of the Association's research, the following results: Sklavenitis: €893.38 (lowest total cost). Athienitis: €951,84. Metro: €985,47. Ioannidis: €997,06. Alpha Mega: €997,90 (highest price).
