Basic food items sold for drastic prices in Hungary

With a few exceptions, the price of basic food items and raw materials needed for their production has risen sharply in Hungary. The reason is twofold: the coronavirus epidemic and the weather.

At least, this conclusion can be drawn from the market reports of the Institute of Agricultural Economics published in April, writes Portfolio.

• Top price increase came in 2021

The institute collected the prices of basic food items on the Budapest wholesale market. Some examples include:

• The prices of egg and meat are rising;
• The average producer price of raw milk is 4 per cent higher than last year;
• The price of buttercream increased by 7%, kefir by 4%, and cottage cheese by 3%;
• A kilogram of Hungarian 47-57 mm cherry tomatoes costs around HUF 685 (~EUR 1.89), while the tomato from Spain is sold for HUF 587 (~EUR 1.62). The former is priced 5%, the latter 44% higher than a year ago;
• The producer price of domestic spring onions increased by 11%, that of the imported product did not change;
• Imported strawberries cost HUF 1,000-1,300 (~EUR 3.59) per kilogram, but the very early-grown domestic strawberries are also available, sold for HUF 3,500 per kilogram (~EUR 9.66), which is significantly higher than the same week last year;
• Not only the price of strawberries but also the price of domestically grown apples increased, as they exceed the prices typical of a year ago by 20–28%.

There are, of course, a few things that have become cheaper.

For instance, the average price of domestically grown sweet peppers is HUF 680 (~EUR 1.88) per kilogram, which is 10 per cent cheaper than a year ago.

Hungarian cabbage from last year’s harvest was included in the selection for HUF 130 (~EUR 0.36) per kilogram, red cabbage for HUF 180 (~EUR 0.50), and kale for HUF 255 (~EUR 0.70) in the examined week; they are slightly cheaper than last year.

Read alsoDrastic increase expected in the price of Hungarian poultry

Source: www.portfolio.hu