Inflation: Spate of checks in six industries ordered

With sweeping checks that will be carried out in all links of the supply chain, that is not only in retail, but also in productive enterprises and in manufacturing, the Ministry of Development aspires to intercept price gouging that continues to eat away at the incomes of households, taking to task those who make illegitimate profit.

The checks will focus on 4 main FMCG sectors: packaged and on-scale food, personal care and hygiene products, home care products (detergents, cleaners, etc.) and pet products and food, while the “list” includes school supplies in view of the start of the new school year, as well as fuel.

The question is to establish whether the ceiling on the gross profit margin is respected, which with the new regulation should not be greater than what was recorded on December 31, 2021. It is noted that the checks will be made on the basis of the actual sales prices, where discounts and offers are also included.

“However, now that the prices of raw materials and energy are droping, now is the time when these controls must be even more thorough in order not to increase the profit margin”, said Minister Kostas Skrekas in the past few days. When the governor of the Bank of Greece, Giannis Stournaras, in an interview with the CGTN news channel, stressed that businesses should reduce profit margins, which have widened significantly, “pointing” to food prices as the main cause of rising inflation.

It is estimated that the issuance of the necessary ministerial decision with the signature of Kostas Skrekas, which will analyze in detail how the controls will be carried out, which businesses are involved, as well as the fines in cases of violations, will be made by next Friday, August 4. Talks with market representatives have already started, so that there is a relative consensus regarding the content of the ministerial decision.

At the same time, the minister is going to call the multinationals to discuss the pricing policy they follow in Greece and the differences that seem to exist in shelf prices in our country compared to other European markets.

It should be noted, however, that checks on subsidiaries of multinational groups, whose products may be priced abroad, are both difficult and time-consuming. However, a high-ranking official of the ministry tells OT that there are ways and the controls will be carried out.

The “new” household basket

In the same ministerial decision, the “recommendation” of the household basket will be described, the validity of which was extended until the end of 2023.

As OT had reported, the extension of the much-discussed measure will be accompanied by moves to “update” the list of products, with the aim of satisfying the existing needs of consumers and also to limit the intense bureaucratic costs that “accompany” its application for the chains .

In detail, the list will include products that are no longer in high demand, such as antiseptics, as well as products that during the implementation of the measure moved sluggishly, for example cocoa powder.

In their place will come other items important for the livelihood of families for which consumer demand is increasing.

In addition, from September, it is possible to create the “school basket” in sequence with the corresponding “seasonal” baskets created in the past, such as the Santa Claus, Lent and Easter basket.

How the turnover of the supermarkets is shaped

Based on NielsenIQ data, which now also includes real data from the discount channel, the leading role in supermarket turnover is food. Hence the centralization of controls by the Interagency Purchase Control Unit-DIMEA.

Specifically, the contribution of food to the total turnover of fast-moving goods is 78.2%. From this percentage, fresh products and food on scales participate in the turnover with 24.2%, while food and beverages of fixed code (packaged) participate with a percentage of 54%.

The other two main categories concern home care products (detergents, cleaners) with a share of 9.4% in turnover and personal hygiene and care products (cosmetics, toothbrushes, etc.) with a percentage of 6.5%.

Finally, there is the bazaar category (clothing, garden and terrace products, electrical appliances, household goods, etc.) with participation in the turnover of supermarkets at 5.9%.
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