Basic food items sold for drastic prices in Hungary

Photo: www.koronavirus.gov.hu

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.