I. Hofmanas: plans to create a platform for citizens to compare food prices

A platform where consumers can compare the prices of a basket of essentials and different products in different shops is to be developed, Agriculture Minister Ignas Hofmanas says.

He made the remarks after the third meeting of the Food Council formed by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAA) on Thursday.

„The aim is to bring together and aggregate the prices offered by all the stores on some platform, and that platform or mobile app will help consumers decide where they can best shop. (...) Neither the traders nor the Competition Council have objected to this," Mr Hofmanas told reporters.

According to him, the meeting analysed the supply chains of buckwheat and hen eggs, the distribution of prices, and the review of these data is to be revisited at the next meetings. The analysis is partly carried out by the Agricultural Data Centre (ADC).

„Traders questioned whether the methodology of the EAA is up-to-date and sufficiently objective. We will come back to the methodology at our next meeting and address how to properly analyse the distribution of product prices along the supply chain," said the head of the MAFF.

Although the Food Council is not achieving its objectives at the desired pace, this does not mean that the government should resort to regulating food prices, according to Mr Hofmann.

„Such a mechanism (price regulation – ELTA) is possible, but I am not in favour of it and I think it is not necessary. (...) In the first meetings, we talked about fixing the prices of a few products for a limited period of time - for two or three months. But let's understand that longer fixing leads to stagnation and stifles competition," the Minister explained.

According to Mr. Hofmann, the next Food Council meeting will further examine why food prices for the final consumer are rising while primary production prices remain at a similar level.

„(ELTA) The meeting started with a question from me on what is driving the increase in prices of products to the end consumer while prices of primary agricultural production are not increasing. The traders may have reacted a little personally, but that was certainly not the intention. (...) The question was addressed not only to traders but also to processors, but it was not answered," the Minister said.

The first meeting of the Food Council took place at the end of February, the second in April.

The Council is made up of representatives from ministries, agricultural associations, universities and business.

I. Hofmann has also said that the new body could be the equivalent of a tripartite council bringing together representatives of employers, trade unions and institutions.