Fruit sold cheap to protest high prices

CHERRIES, apricots and peppers were offered at cheaper prices yesterday during a protest by a consumer rights group outside the Commerce Ministry.

The Consumers and Quality of Life Union said it was protesting the high prices of Cypriot fruit and vegetables in Cyprus, which are higher than those of local produce sold in Paris.

“The price of fruit and vegetables in France are three times lower than prices here; for example in France they are €2 to €3 whereas here they are €8 to €9 per kilo, that’s a huge difference,” said Christina Voniati, a member of the union.

The group’s chairman Loucas Aristodemou said they undertook market research abroad which showed that in the centre of Paris, cherries sold for €2.50 a kilo, whereas in Cyprus they are between €7.70 and €9.90. Apricots also cost €2.50 in Paris but are sold in Cyprus between €5 and €6. Peppers are sold for €3 to €4 in Cyprus whereas in Paris they are sold for half the price, Aristodemou said.

“If supermarkets had these prices there wouldn’t be a crisis, and everyone, including producers would be better off,” said Anna Kioupi, one passerby who stopped to buy some fruit.

Aristodemou said they wanted to send a message to the minister that action needs to be taken against high prices and profiteering. He pointed out that in other countries fines and closures may be imposed on supermarkets for profiteering, but in Cyprus laws are not enforced.

The next step for the union is to stage further similar events, and it will also appeal to fruit producers to close off a road by the Commerce Ministry to sell their products for half a day and make double and triple the profits than those paid to them by middlemen.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.