Bulgaria: wholesale food prices keep rising – tomatoes up almost 17%
The wholesale price index for staple foods rose 0.82% in a week. Tomatoes, peppers and rice became markedly more expensive, while flour got cheaper.
Symbolic image · Photo: Hans Hillewaert / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Wholesale prices of staple foods in Bulgaria have risen again. The index of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Wholesale Markets rose 0.82% last week to 2.343 points, from 2.324 points a week earlier. The base value of 1.000 dates from 2005. Tomatoes posted the biggest rise, up 16.83% to an average of EUR 1.86 per kilo. Green peppers climbed 14.99% to EUR 1.12, and apples – the only fruit to rise – gained 6.4% to EUR 1.13. Rice rose 5% to EUR 1.68 per kilo and sugar 2.17%.
Potatoes, cucumbers, carrots and lettuce were among the products that got cheaper. Type 500 flour recorded the sharpest fall, down 10.03% to EUR 0.61 per kilo. Changes in dairy were small: milk rose 0.67% to EUR 1.21 per litre, while a 125-gram pack of butter fell 4.53%. Size M eggs were unchanged at EUR 0.19 each. The Commission for Consumer Protection is currently examining mark-ups at large retail chains; according to the commission, three chains have already been fined a total of EUR 95,000.