Filenews 29 November 2025 - by Angelos Angelodimou
The competent bodies at the Ministry of Commerce and specifically the Consumer Protection Service are convinced that the e-kalathi project has succeeded, significantly helping consumers. For this reason, they intend to strengthen this application even further, so that it becomes a stronger information tool.
As we are informed, the intention of the competent Service is at the beginning of 2026, to add another 1,000 products to e kalathi, either in the existing categories or in new categories that will be created along the way. This means that along with the existing ones, about 1500 products will be included in the basket. Which, as stated by the competent Service, will further strengthen the application and give the consumer a more complete picture of the market.
Speaking to "F", the Director of the Consumer Protection Service, Konstantinos Karagiorgis, stated that the purpose of the Service is to protect and safeguard the interests of consumers. With e-kalathi, he noted, we have provided a powerful tool, with which price comparisons can be made and the consumer can decide where to make his purchases. We will continue, he said, this effort with the aim of creating even better conditions of competition in the market, always for the benefit of Cypriot consumers.
In an observation that there are voices on the part of mainly retailers that the tool has failed in its purpose and that it has simply created disruption to the market and additional costs for supermarkets, Mr. Karagiorgis argued that our own estimates show that this tool has succeeded. As he said, at least 20,000 have downloaded the application, While at the same time, the prices of the products included in e-Kalathi are consistently at low levels.
It is noted that last week there was a meeting between the officials of the Consumer Protection Service and the representatives of suppliers and retailers to examine the progress to date of both the e-kalathi and the sales and offers guide. At the meeting, the Service informed stakeholders about the intention to upgrade and enrich e-kalathi, which caused discomfort among retailers, who stressed their opposition to such a development, arguing that this tool has failed.
The voices from the trade
In his recent statements, the General Secretary of PASYLE, Marios Antoniou, stressed that "this platform did not perform as expected, as we had predicted. The platform, instead of serving its purpose, created costs and disruption in trade," he underlined. He went on to say that the corresponding price comparison platform in Greece, "e-katanalotis" failed to convince consumers.
Furthermore, Mr. Antoniou stated that consumers choose other ways of informing about supermarket prices, such as online stores, websites and social media of stores. He went on to say that transparency has always existed in the industry and will continue to exist, since supermarkets have been posting prices in their online stores for years.
"A lot of energy was spent and a lot of money was invested in a tool, the usability of which is questioned," concluded Mr. Antoniou.
However, it is worth noting that in relation to the possible inclusion of fresh products in e-kalathi, something with which retailers strongly disagree, our information states that this is not preferred at this stage, as other factors such as the quality of each product intrude. What is being considered is the possibility of including packaged products of this category, which are common to all.
Price radar in Greece
In the meantime, according to Greek publications, a new era of digital information and transparency is opening up for consumers, as the Ministry of Development is proceeding with a complete reform of the e-Consumer.
Minister Takis Theodorikakos has ordered radical changes to the platform, which will be redesigned from the ground up, with the aim of offering substantial information and real comparative tools. The new version of the e-Consumer, which is expected to be ready in six to seven months, aspires to become a modern "price radar" – not only in Greece but also abroad.
One of the most important innovations will be the ability to compare product prices with abroad, something that today requires painstaking research by the consumer himself. With the new system, the price comparison between Greek and foreign chains will be done directly from a mobile phone or computer
