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Food items hit hardest by price increases in first
The first "pandemic-free" Easter in the past two years is marked by a purchasing power eroded by inflation, which has reached a two-figure number for the first time in the past 18 years.
Given the conditions of a war not far from the border, Romania is not facing food shortages, but it remains to be seen how full the Easter table will be after food items were hit hardest by price increases in the recent period.
The chairman of the food industry trade union federation - Sindalimenta, Dragos Frumosu, claims that the Easter table this year will be 50% more expensive than last year, some products recording nearly double prices.
"The price of products that are consumed on Easter has risen and here we refer strictly to cozonac [e.n. - a type of traditional sweetbread], pasca [e.n. - another type of sweetbread eaten only on Easter], eggs and lamb meat. The price for lamb meat has doubled. It may be lower if you buy directly from the farm and may reach 40 RON/kg, but no lower than this price. I think it's improper the fact that they didn't organize markets, because in this conditions the price wouldn't have been 50 RON/kg, maybe it would be 40-42 RON/kg, and 10 RON matters a lot for a lot of people. The price of eggs nearly doubled, cozonac is at least 30% more expensive, the same with pasca, if not more. In these conditions, the prices lead to an Easter table at least 50% more expensive than last year," the chairman of the Sindalimenta Federation said.
On the other hand, the chairman of the Romalimenta Food Industry Owners' Association, Sorin Minea, states that the current prices are false and far higher than the necessary price, and towards the end of spring we will see a slight decrease of prices or even a massive decrease for products that don't sell.
"Price increases exist on the market for a week or two and the more news there is about increases, the more fantasy prices are advanced, the more they will increase. Since the beginning and until now there were dozens of rumors with price increases of 30-40%. I said that it's not so and it was at a maximum 10-15%. After the holidays, part of the prices will drop, because purchasing is very weak. A huge pressure is being put on the part of the processors on the European market to enter the Romanian market because for them the market is weak as well. We will end up with higher prices than them and they will take the market. Compared to a correctly forecast increase, an average of 10%, a line was crossed, sales are dropping, the old prices will return, but with a crashed economy," Sorin Minea said .