Most of the lambs are Greek available to consumers for this year’s Easterwith market players talking about vertical drop in imports from countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, which in recent years occupied a large share of the Greek market.
As he told the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency the president of the Association of Greek Breeders, Panagiotis Peveretos The war in Ukraine has increased the costs for the Romanian exporters and “it is no longer in their interest to send their lambs to our country, while in the last 2-3 years they have opened the markets of the Arab states, where they can sell at a higher price” .
With Catholic Easter being a week before Orthodoxy, Mr. Peveretos notes that many small lambs, especially those up to 7 kg, have left for countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal.
The price at which consumers will get lamb this Easter according to the president of the SEC will not exceed 12 euros per kilo. Big losers will be as he said “again breeders who are “forced” to sell below cost».
«In order for a lamb to reach 15 kilos, and to cover only its costs, we have to sell it for 10 euros per kilo, as well as production costs, electricity and feed have reached very high levels“Mr. Peveretos told APE-MPE, adding that”the price that will be sold by the breeder the lamb this year will be, on average, 8 euros per kilo».
However, he estimated that although this year we will not have the imports we had in previous years, there will be no shortage of lambs saying that “this year we expect many to get half a lamb, so they reach for everyone”.
A few introductions – The controls from the stairs continue
The “low flight” recorded by the imports of lambs from foreign markets confirms to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency the general manager of Quality Assurance of Agricultural Products of ELGO-DIMITRA, Stratos Nikolaou. «This year the lambs that will be introduced in the Greek market are expected to be much less than last year “he said and added:” Already the quantities we observe are much reduced compared to other years».
According to data from the “ARTEMIS” system, against last Easter almost 132 thousand lambs were imported. On the contrary, this year, from the 1st of January until last Friday, only 65 thousand lambs had come to our country.
Regarding the controls carried out in the market, Mr. Nikolaou underlined that they are carried out “by ELGO-DIMITRA throughout the year, while during the Easter period, but also during all the holidays, the organization participates in the planning, under the supervision of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, together with services from other ministries “.
According to him, “there is an intensification of checks at retail outletsto traders and slaughterhouses, concerning the tracing of imported lambs, either live or slaughtered “.
“Purpose” as he adds “is to have full market control for consumer protection. It does not matter the number of checks, but they should be done correctly in all the points that will be selected, whether they are retail points or marketing points».
According to Mr. Nikolaou, the prices that consumers will buy are expected to increase. Easter spear. «It is quite possible for the consumer to reach 12 euros per kiloHe said whilein slaughterhouses, according to information, the price is expected to be 8-9 euros per kilo. However it is too early, we have to see the prices that will be formed by the agreements that the producers will make with the traders».
What consumers should watch out for
With the standard basket for the Easter table to be increased by 9% this season In relation to 2021, according to data from the Consumer Goods Research Research Institute (IELKA), consumers should do market research before proceeding with the supply of the Easter spear.
According to the president of the National Interprofessional Meat Organization (EDOK), Lefteris Gitsas “people should order on time” as he told the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency “who has not ordered, especially in the last week, next is to “fall” victim of speculative moves and behaviors».
Consumers should also make one Market Research, before buying meat for the Easter table. As mentioned by Mr. Gitsas the selling price of lamb and goat depends on where the butcher has supplied it. “Whoever has procured meat from two intermediaries, the next thing is that he will have to sell an additional 1.5 euros per kilo of lamb in order to make a profit,” he said, adding: he can find for 10.5 euros per kilo of lamb “.
Also, another factor that will affect the final price of the lamb is the way the consumer will choose to get it, whole or half.
Finally, speaking about the price sold by the producer, the president of EDOK, stressed that it is currently at an average of 7.5 euros per kilo for lamb, emphasizing that “it is a very important price for the producer, it is unprecedented ».
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
