-
.
- Ελληνικά
[/QUOTE]
New reactions from the Cyprus Consumer Association, new increases in the prices of pasteurized milk.
Specifically, in a written statement, the Cyprus Consumers' Association said that "the two largest dairy companies in Cyprus have recently imposed increases in the selling price of fresh pasteurised milk by about 3%".
With regard to this development, the Consumers' Association stresses that it 'still considers that recent increases in the price of pasteurised milk are not justified under the circumstances'.
Moreover, the Association's president, Marios Droussiotis, has been stressing to the Cyprus Times since last November that any increases in the price of fresh pasteurised milk would be unjustified.
In fact, following the reactions that arose at the time, a particular dairy company, which was due to go ahead with a 3% increase in the retail price of milk from November, decided to suspend its decision.
From then on, following the new increases, in today's announcement, the Cyprus Consumers Association expresses its assessment that the increases in the price of fresh pasteurized milk are mainly based on the following reasons.
- The price of the raw material, namely milk from cow farmers, has been stable since 2015 when the last increase was imposed by the producers.
- The average nationwide increase in the retail prices of fresh pasteurised milk in recent years for 2019 was 2.21%, for 2020 was 2.78%, for 2021 was 0.5% and for 2022 is 3%.
- The above increases were imposed at a time when the basic costs of production were significantly reduced. In 2020, increases of 2.78% were imposed when energy and fuel costs were at their lowest level without any increase in raw material.
In addition, the Association demonstrates that the Consumer Protection Agency, in a public statement by its Deputy Director, has maintained that the increases in fresh pasteurised milk are justified and any intervention by the Ministry is not justified.
"It is noted that the Minister of Energy may impose a maximum selling price (cap) on basic goods when particularly difficult economic conditions prevail in the market that require the containment of price increases on basic consumer goods," he explained.
"The question for the Consumer Protection Agency and the Ministry is how they came to the conclusion that the recent increases are justified, when in the last three years, instead of reducing their prices, the dairy companies have imposed an increase of more than 5% and recently imposed another increase of 3%," the Consumer Association underlines.
"Does the Consumer Protection Service officially confirm what is widespread among consumers that prices are easy to increase and difficult to decrease?", asks the Consumers' Association.
"It is obvious", it continues, "that there are currently significant increases in production costs. But these increases should be taken into account in the context of previous increases and not in the context of a year-on-year increase. If the policy of calculating the increase is done by comparing production costs with the previous year , why then did prices not decrease when the production costs of previous years decreased significantly, for example in 2020?"
In addition, the Cyprus Consumers' Association, bearing in mind that at this time, consumers are going through extremely difficult economic conditions, calls on the Ministry of Energy and the Consumer Protection Service to rise to the occasion and meet their obligations and fulfil their role and duties with regard to consumer protection.
The position of the Cyprus Consumer Association is that the issuance of an Order by the Minister of Energy to impose a maximum selling price (cap) on fresh pasteurized milk should be considered immediately.
Finally, the Cyprus Consumers' Association urges consumers, as a reaction to the price increase, to request and prefer to buy fresh pasteurised milk at the lowest price. "There is fresh pasteurised milk on the market at a lower price than those formed by the recent price increases. It is time for consumers to react and show their strength," concludes the Cyprus Consumers Association.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
