In Turkey, consumer prices recorded an inflation of 84.4% year on year in November, according to official figures published on Monday. Inflation remains particularly marked for transport and food, with an average annual inflation of 102% in food prices. President Erdogan also accuses large retailers of fueling inflation. Last week he promised tighter controls.
For Recep Tayyip Erdogan, large retailers are the designated culprits of the explosion in food prices inflation in Turkey. He accuses them of inflating their margins, of storing products to sell them at a higher price and later. Entangled in a controversy, the president of the Association of Food Retailers resigned on December 4.
The price differences can indeed be impressive. According to the Union of Agricultural Chambers, in November, a lettuce cost on average 236% more to the consumer than its purchase price to the producer. For an apple, the difference was 209%, 180% for parsley, squash or carrots.
Ahmet Atalik, head of agricultural services at Istanbul City Hall, rather denounces a chain of responsibilities. “On the one hand, there is the effect of the sharp rise in the prices of fuels or electricity used to transport and store the products before they reach us. But above all there are many intermediaries who inflate prices for the consumer while pressuring farmers to limit their selling prices. The problem is such that our producers consider themselves happy if they succeed in reimbursing their production costs! »
A solution, in his eyes: develop short circuits – direct sales, farmers’ markets, cooperatives – and curb imports of agricultural products, which have been rising steadily in recent years.
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