Food Festival Findings: Prices and Concerns at a Recent Event
Last year’s food festival offered a wide variety of culinary options, though attendees noted a slight decrease in the number of stalls compared to previous years. Despite this, there remained a plentiful selection of food and drink.
The offerings were typical of similar events, featuring popular choices like langos, sausages, potato pancakes, and various fried foods. Many vendors provided free samples, which proved popular with attendees, some returning for multiple tastes. Lidl, such as, distributed hummus samples.
A notable point of discussion revolved around free tastings at the Agrofert booth. Reminders of a recent media report regarding Listeria contamination in smoked chicken thighs produced by Vodňanská chicken (part of the Agrofert holding) were circulating. The State Veterinary management had withdrawn the affected batch from sale. One visitor commented, “Thay have the spoiled chickens there, I wouldn’t go there,” yet many still sampled the available items, including protein and flavored milk, salty sticks, duck brawn, salami, and sausages. Prices at this booth were reportedly lower compared to other vendors.
Elsewhere, a gyros cost 99 crowns, a hamburger 179 crowns, and fried cheese in Houska 139 crowns. Langos were priced around 140 crowns each.One sausage stand drew attention for its pricing structure. A sausage cost 140 crowns, but additional costs were applied for condiments and bread. When requesting mustard, ketchup, horseradish, and two slices of bread, customers were charged an additional 20 crowns, bringing the total to 160 crowns. The vendor explained that the 140 crowns covered only the sausage, with bread costing 5 crowns and condiments 10 crowns, as indicated on a posted sign. Other customers in line confirmed this was not a standard practice.A similar situation was observed in České Budějovice, were an “XXL” sausage cost 140 crowns, with an additional 40 crowns for a complete set of accompaniments – two pieces of bread, mustard, ketchup, horseradish, pepper, cucumbers, and BBQ sauce. A sausage in a baguette was available for 190 crowns.
Other vendors offered Belgian fries for 130 crowns, chicken schnitzel for 95 crowns (though this was specified as only 100 grams), and fried cheese for 129 crowns.
In some instances, food was priced by weight, which could initially appear reasonable but quickly added up to several hundred crowns for a standard portion. For exmaple, gnocchi with smoked meat and cabbage cost 75 crowns for ten blanket, but a typical portion of 350 grams would cost 260 crowns – a price comparable to or exceeding those found in more upscale restaurants.
