Butter marked up 135%: Bulgaria's consumer watchdog opens 11 cases against retailers
Watchdog chief Maya Manolova accused supermarket chains of overcharging for milk, cheese and vegetables. Joint warehouse inspections start Wednesday. Retailers reject the claims.
Symbolic image · Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Bulgaria's Commission for Consumer Protection has opened 11 proceedings over unjustified price increases for staple foods, including cheese, milk, tomatoes and cucumbers. The cases compare October prices with those in August. Retail chains can show the increases were justified; otherwise they face fines of 10,000 to 100,000 euros per product under consumer protection law.
Commission chair Maya Manolova cited a butter bought for 1.43 euros and sold for 3.79 euros including VAT, a 135% markup, and markups of 95% for white brine cheese and 99% for kashkaval. She said typical markups in Germany are 15% to 25%. The commission is referring the matter to the competition regulator on Tuesday, and joint inspections of major chains' warehouses with the food safety agency and the revenue agency begin Oct. 21.
The Association for Modern Trade accused the commission of misleading consumers with inaccurate information and confusing price indices with markups or profits. It asked the watchdog to disclose how many products were checked and what the lowest markups were.