A ceiling on markups for producers, processors, resellers and traders - this is one of the ideas set out in the new food law.
Through markups, the market can be manipulated very seriously and this is happening, former Minister of Agriculture Kiril Vatev commented to bTV.
„Imported food products enter at a higher price. With a lower markup on the shelf, they are noticeably cheaper than Bulgarian products, which are subject to high markups. This is what this law should regulate“, said Vatev.
You cannot manipulate the market through markups, he was categorical.
“I would suggest that the markups in the store for one product group and for products of the same quality, but from different manufacturers, should not exceed the lowest agreed markup by anyone, since in this way the market is manipulated a lot“, said Kiril Vatev.
“This law is a hopeful step in the right direction. However, let us not forget that prices in the market are determined by an extremely important factor - the ratio between supply and demand“, commented Kiril Vatev.
“In our country, the market is already dominated by large supermarket chains. They hold almost 70% market share. During the pre-holiday markets, they reach 92%. So Bulgarian producers currently cannot do without chains. The big question is whether they sell profitably in chains and this law tries to regulate precisely these relations“, he explained.
“In the “Fruit and Vegetables“ sector, we import between 70 and 80%. This is on an annual basis. With seasonal Bulgarian products we will be able to, but out of season we will not be able to. At the fresh meat stands it is mainly Bulgarian, but that is all. For processors it is not enough and that is why they import“, explained Vutev.
According to him, the big problem in Bulgaria is that we do not have slaughterhouses that sell meat.
“We have slaughterhouses that sell carcasses, and the processor does not need the entire carcass because he cannot utilize all the positions from it“, explained the former Minister of Agriculture.