Butchers have had a hard time with the Minister of Development Kostas Skrekas in recent days and the reason is not only the “Easter Basket”, which has bargain prices even 50% cheaper than butchers.
The minister, with statements he made the day before yesterday, triggered reactions in the butcher industry, as he directly invited consumers to shop from supermarkets that have products in the “Easter Basket”.
“The goal was to enable households to get the lamb at affordable prices. Right now in the Easter basket, the lamb is sold at prices below 10 euros” said the Minister of Development and indeed it is, as can be seen from the e-katalalotis.gr application.
The butchers of Patras consider that the Ministry of Development is in this way giving a premium to the supermarket chains at the expense of the neighborhood butchers who currently sell the Easter arrowhead in a price range of 13.5 – 15 euros per kilo.
The honorary president of the Butchers’ Association of Patras and surroundings and member of the Federation’s administration, Dionysis Andreopoulos, he emphasized to “Peloponnisos” that the household basket “is carbine unfair competition”. He mentioned that in a well-known Patras supermarket, with the purchase of a lamb, two 6-euro gift certificates are offered. This practically annihilates the competition, with the butchers having their only weapon, quality.
“We cannot sell so low, because we only have quality meats,” says Mr. Andreopoulos, meaning that the lambs sold in supermarkets are heavier and of inferior quality.
At the same time, Mr. Andreopoulos raises the issue of a large time difference between the date of slaughter and the date of availability of the lambs in the supermarkets, which – as he claims – use conservation techniques that extend the meat’s shelf life.
“We only sell fresh lambs, slaughtered in the last days before Easter” said Mr. Andreopoulos, justifying the prices at neighborhood butchers.
Andreas Skayas, owner of the abattoir of the same name in the Industrial Area of Patras, predicted a problem of adequacy this year in the market. He pointed out to “Peloponnisos” that those who did not take care to place an order in time at their butcher or at the supermarket, may not find a whole lamb or even at all in the next two days, because the wholesalers placed limited orders, fearing that they would be left with unavailable quantities, due to of competition from the “Easter Basket”.
It is indicative that the breeders sold this year for 9-9.5 euros per kilo. “Cheap lamb with 9 and 9.5 euros from the producer does not exist” said Mr. Skayas, who could not explain that there are supermarkets today that sell for 9.70 euros per kilo.
Nikos Fikos, owner of clothing shops in the centre, noted: “The last few days there has been a lot of traffic, with people coming into the shop, shopping and that is positive. But in the previous period there was stillness since everyone seems to have been waiting for Easter. Of course, compared to last year, the data shows that we will move a little better in terms of turnover, but this is not enough to cover the small turnover of the previous months. However, we are optimistic. For our part, we have kept the prices stable in relation to 2023″.
Brigadier Kappa, president of the Patras Association of Confectioners, said: “In the last few days traffic has increased significantly and we already have many orders for Good Friday and Good Saturday. It should be noted that although the price of cocoa has risen, most of our colleagues had procured material early and we have maintained the same prices as of Easter 2023. We still cannot make a comparison, but the first samples show that the sector will move very well this Easter, although in essence we cannot make a comparison, as last Easter was earlier.”
From the branch of candlesticks and lamps, o Dimitris Avramis, owner of a candle shop on Gerokostopoulou Street, noted: “Traffic has increased a lot in the last few days and we can say that we are moving satisfactorily for this year’s Easter. Consumers also buy candles because of the days, but also candles for the day of Resurrection. I imagine traffic will peak even more on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as there are many people rushing to buy candles at the last minute.”
From the footwear industry, Mr Michalis Zafeiropoulos, owner of a shoe store in the center, emphasized: “Since the previous week, the traffic has increased significantly, and the Easter gift to the employees helped significantly in this. The children’s shoe industry is doing well these days and it makes sense because everyone is shopping for their baby shoes. However, an inhibiting factor is that there are frequent marches these days and this made it difficult for consumers to come to the center and shop at their convenience.”
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