Illustration photo – President of the Food Chamber of the Czech Republic Dana Večeřová spoke at a press conference on World Bread and Pastry Day, October 13, 2022, Prague.
Prague – There is currently no room for lowering food prices due to the ever-increasing costs of manufacturing and processing enterprises. Dana Večeřová, president of the Food Chamber, told journalists. According to the chamber, the costs of products for companies increased by 50 to 80 percent year-on-year, and companies had no room to reflect this in prices. This year, food prices could still rise slightly and gradually stabilize in the second half of the year, the chamber said.
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Večeřová said that despite the capped energy prices, businesses pay four times more than in 2019, and the set maximum energy prices are much higher than in neighboring countries. According to her, the significant increase in energy prices last year affected small and medium-sized enterprises the most, which did not receive any compensation. According to Večeřová, the rise in energy prices has affected them because they do not have such favorable contracts with suppliers as large companies.
Večeřová stated that, in addition to energy prices, the costs of packaging also rose significantly, which became more expensive by 30 to 40 percent. She drew attention to the fact that companies must also pay fees for recycling, sorting and waste collection, which have increased by 35 percent.
According to Večeřová, food prices could still rise slightly this year, but there should not be significant increases leap changes. According to her, the elimination of the causes of food price hikes should be discussed. “We welcome that the Institute for the Protection of Competition will check the trade mark-ups in the entire vertical for four foods. Let's wait for the results,” she said.
She also noted that the prices in the shops are enormously high. “The markup is up to 100 percent of what the supplier delivers,” she said. She added that most products are not sold at the so-called shelf price, but in promotions. The president of the Trade and Tourism Association of the Czech Republic (SOCR), Tomáš Prouza, said this week that 62 percent of products will now be sold at events. Večeřová stated that there is a trade markup of 40 to 50 percent in the events.
Prouza has previously stated that the reason for the continued increase in the price of food in the retail sector is not the retail chains, but the abuse of inflation and the dominant position by the suppliers.< /p>
