Call for milk and bread boycott

A call for a one-week boycott of bread and milk has been issued by a group of citizens acting in tandem with the Cyprus Consumers’ Union and the Quality of Life Association.

Given Cyprus has Europe’s most expensive bread and milk, and in light of the Government’s inability to curb high prices, those issuing the call have decided to take matters into their own hands.

The aim of the boycott is to convince local bread and milk companies to reduce their prices, or at least discourage them from increasing them further than the already “unacceptable” present-day levels. 

The boycott is also meant to show sellers, described by the action takers as “greedy and exploitive”, that consumers are a force to be reckoned with.

According to the Association, the price of milk is set to rise by 1.7–1.8 cents by October 1, meaning a four-cent increase for consumers, already paying between €1.40 and €1.52 for a litre.

The Association has previously warned people will stop drinking milk if the prices keep rising, but it is only now, seven months after their initial complaint, that action has finally been taken. 

The Association held a news conference last week to show comparisons of basic goods prices in Germany and Cyprus. The cheapest litre of milk in Germany was 60 cents, while the cheapest loaf of bread was 60 cents for a kilo.

Retailers stand by the fact that they do not even receive a third of the amount consumers pay for goods, blaming the high prices on the Grain Commission and the general costs of production. 

Bakeries, meanwhile, claim it is incorrect to compare Cypriot products to German ones as the cost of German bread of the same quality as its Cypriot equivalent, is four times more expensive.