Basic food products in Vidin are sold more expensively than in Sofia, although the average gross salary in the city barely exceeds 1000 euros, and in the capital it reaches 1915 euros. The differences are also visible in stores of the same retail chain.
Fresh chilled chicken in Vidin costs 4.60 euros, while in Sofia the price is 3.57 euros. Minced meat mixture in Vidin is sold for 5.59 euros even on promotion, while in the same chain in Sofia it costs 4.34 euros. In the case of flour, the difference is 30% – 49 cents on promotion in the capital against 64 cents on regular price in Vidin.
More than a euro difference in one basket
A comparison of four main products shows the same trend. A kilogram of loose cheese, a kilogram of yellow cheese, a yogurt and a kilogram of apples cost a total of 13.35 euros in a large chain store in Vidin. In Sofia, the same products cost 12.41 euros.
In a large store in Vidin, cheese can be found for just over 5 euros per kilogram on promotion. In a neighborhood store, the price starts at around 7 euros.
„We strive to have promotions regularly. Yogurt, fresh milk, cheese, eggs, yellow cheese, flour, oil. "We have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables at prices affordable to the people," says sales consultant Lyuboslava Petrova.Competition as an explanation
There are 244 stores of large retail chains in Sofia, while there are four in Vidin, Vratsa and Blagoevgrad. At the same time, there is no national data showing how food prices change by region.
According to Adrian Nikolov from the Institute of Market Economics, a key factor is competition. In his words, more stores mean stronger pressure for lower prices and more frequent promotions. With market concentration and the presence of one major player, prices can be higher.
“Where we have many stores, competitive pressure will force at least some of the market participants to reduce prices and run promotions more regularly“, says Nikolov.He also rejects claims that between 75 and 80% of food retail is carried out through large chains.
Consumers shop for small goods in neighborhood stores on average once every three days. In large stores, they shop once a week and spend three times as much. According to NSI data, per person per year, there are almost 77 kilograms of vegetables, 67 kilograms of bread and pasta, 60 kilograms of fruit and 41 kilograms of meat. The latest statistics show an increase in prices for all these groups.
Sources: bntnews.bg