BUTCHERS ARE threatening to import pork, in response to the anomaly in Cyprus of having high pig prices and low pork prices as a result of “unfair competition” from the supermarkets.
The head of the Cyprus Butchers’ Association, Costas Livadiotis, yesterday said that even though there was a 23 per cent increase in the price of pigs in the past three months alone, the price of pork was being pushed down due to competitive prices offered by supermarkets.
This, he said, was leading butchers to seek alternative solutions, including thoughts of importing meat from abroad.
Based on the European Union’s official data, he said, Cyprus has the highest price for live pigs in Europe compared to the price at which pork is being sold.
He said supermarkets were competing with each other to offer the lowest prices, forcing butchers to do the same, which has left them running at a loss.
“The unfair commercial practices and policies of the supermarkets, using meat as a way to draw people in by selling it at below cost prices, have caused irreversible damage…,” said Livadiotis.
He said farmers’ financial enslavement to supermarkets had “bled the pig farming sector dry” and butchers were now having to pay for the damage.
“Small and medium-sized butchers can no longer tolerate this situation…,” said Livadiotis.
He added that the butchers’ association would not remain inactive. The association “has alternative choices, including the collective import of meat to protect the sector and the consumer”.
Phileleftheros newspaper yesterday published an investigation into the price of meat, which showed that Cyprus’ pork, cows' milk and poultry products were much dearer than the EU average.
Despite the dire state of the island’s farming sector, it showed that only lamb was around 30 per cent cheaper than the EU average. Pork was 20 per cent dearer, beef milk 60 per cent more expensive, poultry 30 per cent and eggs 20 per cent higher, said the report.