Two of the retail chains put their prices on the product watch site, two more from next week
The state is preparing another measure in the fight against high food prices – its own stores, in which standard products will be offered.
“This will be a presentation store that will express what the state wants to educate in people’s eating habits,” explained the Minister of Agriculture, Yavor Gechev.
According to him, foods that are worth it will be offered – those according to the BDS standard, produced by the state. For example, in the Ministry of Agriculture, there were a number of production facilities, including food universities, where work was carried out with a scientific purpose. Their developments will be demonstrated – wines, meats, game products, as well as products of the institutes of the Agricultural Academy, which also include dairy, honey, rose oil, and various other foods. There may be stands of branch organizations, Gechev gave examples.
The first such store will open in the Ministry of Agriculture on the site of the former restaurant. It is currently under renovation. If there is a need, there may be sites in other cities as well.
Gechev emphasized that ideas related to state regulation of the prices of basic foods are widely approved – 85.5% of Bulgarians are “for”. 72.7 percent support the establishment of state-owned stores. This shows a study of the ministry in the period between March 14 and 19, 2023.
Again, in the spirit of the office’s efforts to reach consumers with quality products at an affordable price, “LB Bulgaricum” has also expanded its offer. In addition to the state store, they will now also be sold at the Central Cooperative Union (CCU) sites.
This will happen gradually – first in Sofia and Plovdiv, and then in Lovech, Ruse, Varna and Burgas. The prices of the products will be the same as in the “LB Bulgaricum” stores. Currently, cow’s cheese costs BGN 12.90, and yellow cheese – BGN 15.90.
The Minister of Economy, Nikola Stoyanov, said that two of the retail chains will start publishing prices of food products on the state website foodprice.bg. It is about Lidl and the KOP stores. Kaufland and Billa have also already expressed interest and are likely to start announcing their prices from next week.
About 10,000 entries per day are registered on the price tracking site, Stoyanov said. And he added that next week a draft law on the surcharge will be released for public discussion.
Its goal is to guarantee products at affordable prices, but at the same time to do so with minimal intervention in the market. Therefore, from each product group there will be only 1-2 items with a minimum markup – up to 10%.
