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According to producers, Penny supermarket would offer Hungarian watermelons at such a low price this week that it would not even cover the production costs. The discount chain’s move is unacceptable according to the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, the Hungarian Melon Growers Association, and the FruitVeB Hungarian Interbranch Fruit and Vegetable Organization and Product Council. According to the supermarket chain, products bought at the prevailing market price are sold to customers at a lower retail margin than usual.
A joint statement was issued by the three organizations on Tuesday that Penny will sell Hungarian watermelons at HUF 229 (EUR 0,61) per kilogram from Thursday, but there is no justification for this price at the moment, as it is the beginning of the season, there is no oversupply, and there is no pressure from foreign imports.
At present, the price of domestic watermelon from suppliers is around 220 forints (EUR 0,58). At the same time,
Penny’s consumer price of 229 forints (EUR0,61) implies a supplier price of 140-150 forints (EUR 0,37-0,4), which does not even cover the significantly increased production costs this year, they pointed out.
Balázs Győrffy, president of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, said it was outrageous that a supermarket chain was trying to profit from Hungarian watermelons at the expense of producers. He stressed that if Penny does not stop its actions, which threaten the Hungarian watermelon season and the future of production, the chamber will not shy away from a possible demonstration.
The action of the supermarket chain concerned is not an isolated incident,
it puts the other chains in a situation of constraint, which could ultimately lead to a collapse of prices on the whole watermelon market.
Producers say the move could ruin the sector, which has just started to grow again after last year’s poor harvest.
The three organizations are calling on Hungarian retail chains to “act fairly” and bring watermelon prices into line with the real market situation.
In response to a request from MTI, Penny Hungary stated that it is of the utmost importance to the company that as many Hungarian products as possible are available in its stores, thus supporting the work of Hungarian producers and farmers. At the same time, it is equally significant to reduce the burden on customers in this difficult economic situation, they added.
That is why in some cases, as in the case of Hungarian watermelons, the company sells the product at a lower retail margin than the usual one, even if it is bought at the prevailing market price.
This is done in order to ensure that Hungarian families in a worse financial situation can get one of the most popular seasonal Hungarian fruits at a favorable price in the fight against sanction inflation,”
emphasized Eszter Kazatsay, Penny’s communications manager in Hungary.
Via MTI, Featured photo via Facebook/Győrffy Balázs