The Food Market: Prices Stabilize, Minor Changes Occur

For another week, the market remains calm, without sharp deviations. There is a decrease in the consumer basket by another 1 lev, and this week it reaches 99 BGN. This was announced by the chairman of the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Markets (DKSBT), Vladimir Ivanov, at a press conference.

He pointed out that this is not a completely normal phenomenon for this time of year. It is probably about the unusually good weather in November, which has an effect and leads to the stabilization of the market. According to him, the decrease of one lev is due to the usual weekly variations and does not represent a trend either towards increasing or decreasing.

Among fruits and vegetables, there is a price reduction for onions - by 4 stotinki, cabbage - by 1 stotinka, potatoes - by 1 stotinka, oranges - by 13 stotinki, grapes - by 18 stotinki, apples - by 25 stotinki, with a decrease being recorded for apples for another week. An increase is observed for tomatoes - by 8 stotinki, cucumbers - by 21 stotinki, for carrots - by 10 stotinki, red peppers - by 5 stotinki, green peppers - by 12 stotinki, zucchini - by 14 stotinki, lemon - by 4 stotinki, banana - by 3 stotinki. 

For the main food products, the price of kashkaval cheese is increasing - by 10 stotinki, yogurt - by 4 stotinki, cheese - by 1 stotinka, and eggs - by 1 stotinka. The goods that are decreasing in price are flour - by 6 stotinki, butter - by 10 stotinki, fresh milk - by 1 stotinka, oil - by 3 stotinki, pork - by 12 stotinki, chicken - by 6 stotinki, rice - by 3 stotinki, beans - by 1 stotinka, sugar - by 5 stotinki.

Ivanov noted that the variations are small, as we are observing a stabilization of the market. He added that this time he will present data from the beginning of the year from January 1, 2025, to the present.

Tomatoes at the beginning of the year were 3.43 leva per kilogram, now they are traded at 2.62 leva per kilogram. Cucumbers from 3.37 leva at the beginning of the year are currently 3.40 leva per kilogram. Potatoes - from 1.21 leva have fallen to 0.95 stotinki per kilogram.         

Cabbage was offered at 1.33 leva at the beginning of the year, and currently it is 0.80 leva per kilogram. The price of carrots at the beginning of the year was 1.24 leva per kilogram, and currently it is 1.12 leva per kilogram, and for ripe onions - from 1.05 to 0.85 leva per kilogram.

Red pepper from 4.80 leva on January 1 to date is traded at 2.31 leva per kilogram, and green pepper has decreased by 2.48 leva per kilogram from 4.68 leva at the beginning of the year. Zucchini from 2.88 leva at the beginning of the year, this week are 2.50 leva per kilogram. Lemons from 2.35 leva per kilogram are currently sold for 3.40 leva. 

Bananas have increased in price from 2.63 BGN to 2.71 BGN, as this is the commodity with the most stable price throughout the year. The price of grapes, which has been tracked since August 26, has decreased from 3.63 BGN to 2.90 BGN. Oranges have increased in price from 1.85 BGN on January 1 to 2.38 BGN at the moment, and apples – from 1.80 BGN to 2.00 BGN per kilogram.

Sugar as of January 1 was 1.98 BGN, currently it is 1.79 BGN per kilogram, beans are cheaper from 4.34 BGN to 4.28 BGN, and flour increases its price from 1.43 BGN to 1.53 BGN per kilogram. Rice was traded at 3.35 BGN, and currently it is 3.37 BGN per kilogram. Oil has decreased from 3.38 BGN to 3.24 BGN per liter. Eggs from 0.36 leva at the beginning of the year this week are traded at 0.41 leva each.      

The price of kashkaval cheese from 17.57 leva on January 1 to the moment is 18.15 leva per kilogram. Cheese from 11.59 BGN at the beginning of the year is currently traded for 11.90 leva. Butter was 3.08 leva at the beginning of the year, and as of today it is unchanged for a 125-gram package.

Yogurt from 1.32 leva on January 1, this week is traded at 1.38 leva for a 400-gram jar. Fresh milk was 2.47 leva at the beginning of the year, and now it is offered at 2.30 leva per liter. 

Pork, which was 10.10 leva at the beginning of the year, is currently sold at 10.60 leva per kilogram, and chicken has reached from 6.39 to 6.71 leva per kilogram.

Ivanov specified that this is not an indicator of inflation, but represents a change in the prices of goods from January 1, 2025, to the present. According to him, when the statistical data of the NSI is released, it will probably become clear that the movement is between 2 and 3 percent for the main food products. Currently, the market is functioning normally, there is a healthy competitive environment and there are no conditions internationally to expect unfavorable developments.

He added that at the moment DKSBT together with KZP are conducting a joint analysis of retail prices in order to be able to track them as well, and the data they have from October 10, as price curves, generally coincide with those of wholesale.