A new jump in the prices of Bulgarian greenhouse vegetables was registered by the commodity exchanges and markets in our country. Official data indicate that the price increase for cucumbers is nearly 7%, and for greenhouse tomatoes by 5 per 100. In addition to inflationary processes and higher energy prices, there are other reasons for the price increase.
We are talking about the higher wages that producers pay this year for labor. And another factor - the shortage of Bulgarian greenhouse production on the markets. Production this year has drastically shrunk. According to market analysts, imports will again dictate prices. Our team's inspection found out where in the chain the price of cucumbers, for example, is distorted and why they are traded from 2 to 6 leva per kilogram.
The first cucumbers from one of the greenhouses in the May Day village of Byala Reka will go on the market in 10 days. Atanaska Byalkova grows 5 acres and explains that production is 30 percent more expensive this year.
“We heat with pellets. For example, if last year we bought them for 250 leva, this year they are about 320 leva. The salary is rising every year. We are paying more and more because there is no labor force”, explained Atanaska, quoted by Nova TV.
3 leva per kilogram - this is the price at which the cucumbers will leave here, explains the producer. However, it will most likely undergo a change, because pricing is not based on production costs, but on other mechanisms.
“In fact, the price does not depend on the producers, but on what the market demand is”, the woman explained.
And from the greenhouses we go to the markets in the city. In Plovdiv, the price of a kilogram of cucumbers starts from 2 and goes up to 6 leva. The cheaper ones, which are widely available on the stalls, are imported from Greece or Turkey.
Farmers like Atanaska are against the introduction of the so-called “marginal surcharge“, which the state offers for both producers and traders.
“There is no way it can happen and no one can say at what price someone will sell. This is a free market”, the woman believes.