“It’s been three weeks since we first met with supermarket representatives, where we presented our household basket solution to them. This week, on November 2, a new approach to essential goods for the average home will come into force,” Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Sky this morning.

The minister then stressed that “on Wednesday, together with Deputy Development Minister Nikos Papathanasis and ministry services, we will check all major supermarket chains. There we will compare prices so that people can see the usefulness of the basket.”

“We will advertise the networks with the lowest prices, and the control will be intense,” the minister said and added: “We are armed to control and legislate. We have received the approval of the competition commission, we are fully insured and are starting a big job. Citizens will be able to find the best prices in the supermarket in a very difficult situation. We are fighting a great battle under extremely difficult conditions.”

He also noted that no chain is prohibited from adding more than 50 products. It is not necessary to have 50 products, you can have more. But it can’t be less than 50″.

He also said that from Wednesday each supermarket will have its own basket, while a special website is being created for the household basket and special labeling will be applied to goods.

The Minister explained that the prices for products are fixed on the day of the conclusion of the contract, that is, October 3, and the comparison of current prices will be made with prices for that day.

“We will compare prices with those that existed before the announcement of the measure,” he said.

He calculated that many chains will try to set lower prices to attract customers, and explained that the law also covers a fixed profit margin per base unit of weight (per gram, for example). And this is something that already applies to vital products, as he said.

Mr. Georgiadis expressed his belief that price-cutting competition is beginning and added that “we are and will be fighting a big battle in the basket in the coming weeks.”

He said the food in the cart would be changed every Wednesday to ensure there was enough food.

Every week, each chain will update its cart, he stressed, adding that “we want these items to always be in the cart.”

Finally, he noted that by law, all large supermarket chains are required to enter the basket, otherwise a fine will be imposed.

Source: RES-IPE