It is getting more expensive to light up the barbecue for souvlakia – or enjoy one on a night out – with pork prices in Cyprus expected to sky rocket to €5 per kilo before the summer is over.
Over the past few months, the average price of a kilo of pork has been between €4.35 and €4.75 and is expected to climb even more.
Butchers have blamed the hike in pork prices to the increase in the number of tourists on the island while livestock farmers blame an increase in animal feed prices throughout Europe and elsewhere.
The increase is also anticipated to affect restaurant prices.
As things stand now, the average price for souvlakia in a pitta at a local kebab shop is around €5.50 but locals could soon be forced to cough up as much as €6.
Cyprus Butchers Association Chairman Costas Livadiotis said a summer price increase was expected because tourists also enjoy indulging in souvlakia while on holiday.
He added that two months ago, the pre-slaughter price of pork stood at €1.20 per kilo while it was now €1.50 with some expecting a further increase to €1.60.
“There has already been a 25% increase,” he told state radio on Wednesday.
“The price increase on the part of producers has opened the way to overseas imports which, are slowly but surely gaining a growing market share.”
This, Livadiotis said, was something local producers should take into account before increasing their prices further, noting the local producers’ recent increases were higher than those made by their counterparts in the rest of Europe.
He also said that most butchers had tried not to pass the increase on to their customers, raising prices only once even though what they were paying to producers rose by 10 cents per kilo three times over the past two months.
However, Pig Farmers Association chairman Giorgos Neophytou said producers were faced not only with rising expenses but also a 30% EU-wide drop in pork production even though left-over stocks created by the Russian embargo were absorbed by the Chinese market.
He said increased expenses included a rise in the price of soya from €400 per ton to €550 and the price of corn from €180 per tonne to €220.
Neophytou also said many pig farmers had to close their businesses because they were not making enough and suggested prices were still too low, in favour of consumers but to the detriment of the farmers themselves.
Cyprus Weekly