New Year’s feast prices hold at Christmas levels, consumer association says

New Year’s feast costs mirror Christmas, with only negligible price drops for a few vegetables, the Cyprus Consumers Association said on Tuesday.

Its president Marios Drousiotis said that only tomato and cucumber prices have declined, but the reduction is negligible and does not significantly lower the total cost.

Drousiotis said he has asked the Consumer Protection Service to publish a report on the performance of the e-Kalathi app, adding that the association believes e-Kalathi has so far failed to meet its promises and expectations.

The app was introduced earlier this year to offer a tool to compare prices of basic goods across various supermarks.

Based on a survey of Christmas table costs in Nicosia using prices from the same supermarkets surveyed last year, Drousiotis said a ‘rich table’, consisting of 34 items would cost around €160 for a family of four and €227 for a family of six.

An ‘economic table’ of 19 items of the total 34 products would cost €98 for a family of four and €129 for a family of six, while a basic table of 11 items for households with the lowest incomes would come to €33 for a four-member family and €49 for a six-member one.

That’s a nine per cent rise from 2024’s Christmas table costs.

Drousiotis clarified that the Nicosia survey included four nationwide supermarket chains that apply uniform pricing across Cyprus.

He highlighted the association’s report on the e-Kalathi app’s operation so far.

The report claims that, despite the app promising to help consumers track and compare the prices of essential goods, after six months of operation it has failed to deliver results.

Specifically, one nationwide supermarket chain had no products listed on e-Kalathi on 15 of the 60 days monitored in October and November.

“It’s unacceptable for consumers to lack access to this supermarket’s e-Kalathi for 15 out of 60 days,” said Drousiotis, adding that the supermarket listed only 120 to 125 of the 478 products included on the platform.

The same supermarket chain did not participate in e-Kalathi at all between December 17 and December 29.

A second nationwide supermarket chain had only 135 of the 478 products listed on e-Kalathi in October.

He added that when a supermarket carries between 8,000 and 10,000 product codes, and e-Kalathi includes only 478 items, with two nationwide chains listing just 125 to 135 products, consumers are not being adequately supported.

“They didn’t give us the basket they promised and advertised,” he said, recalling that the platform was initially expected to include 3,000 products.

No supermarket lists all 478 products.

He added that, based on information received by the association, nine out of ten users who tried the app did not use it again.