All retailers in Romania have agreed to voluntarily reduce the price of milk of Romanian origin by at least 20%, from May 1, and in the following period they will negotiate with each processor they collaborate with, the Competition Council announced.
“During the month of May we will see substantial reductions, on the shelf, of the prices of fresh milk, considering that the retailers have confirmed their participation in the voluntary agreement. It may take a few days for this measure to be applied in all stores, taking into account that contracts with each manufacturer must be renegotiated and existing stocks exhausted. We expect that, during the six months that the agreement is valid, consumption will increase. In addition, economic forecasts indicate that inflation will decrease, and thus we will no longer record such high increases in food prices,” said Bogdan Chiriţoiu, the president of the competition authority.
According to the cited source, the voluntary agreement between retailers and processors to reduce the price of fresh milk for consumption is to apply from May 1, as decided at the meeting with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă of the representatives of farmers, processors in the food industry, the Association of Large Commercial Chains from Romania and the Association of Goods Distribution Companies from Romania.
Thus, the reduction of at least 20% of the shelf price will be applied to milk of Romanian origin that currently costs more than 7 lei/liter, without being included in any promotion, and will be shared between retailers (minimum 10%) and processors (minimum 10%).