Olive oil price cut ahead of EU accession

A NEW olive oil is set to hit the market at 30 per cent cheaper prices in anticipation of increased competition with EU accession.

George Christodoulou, director of the olive oil marketing board, SEKEP, said employees had been working overtime to meet the demands of supermarkets competing to have the cheaper olive oil on their shelves first.

The price was slashed last week by 30 per cent, and is being distributed to supermarket franchises and shops covering 30 per cent of the market. The oil is expected to be on supermarket in every shop by the end of next week.

Christodoulou explained why the price of Riviera olive oil had been lowered at a time when most products on the market were getting more expensive: “Cyprus will join the EU on May 1, which means that Cypriot olive oil manufacturers will be competing with European manufacturers. So we have lowered the price of our oil to compete with EU manufacturers, and we are doing this now before May, to strengthen our position on the market.”

The price of SEKEP’s Riviera oil will come down from £2.20 per litre to £1.91. The four-litre bottle falls from £8.60 to £7.41, while the cost of 20 litres is cut from £42 to £35.91.

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