Consumers say milk price hike ‘unjustified’

The Cyprus Consumers Association on Wednesday urged authorities to take action following a three per cent increase in the cost of fresh pasteurised milk it says is unjustified.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the association said the government should impose a price cap on what it called a basic necessity.

At the same time, it advised consumers to react to the price increase and buy the cheapest possible option available on the market, “as a response to the unjustified rise in its price.”

“The decision to increase the cost of fresh pasteurised milk makes no sense,” the association said. “The price of the raw material needed to obtain the finished product, most importantly the milk from cow farmers, has been stable since 2015.”

It also said the increases are imposed at a time when basic production costs are significantly reduced, adding that “also in 2020, increases of 2.78 per cent were imposed when energy and fuel costs were at their lowest level without any increase in the cost of raw material.”

The Cyprus Consumers Association also slammed the state’s Consumer Protection Service for failing to fulfil its role and to protect citizens from “unjustified prices for basic products.”

“In the last three years, the Consumer Protection Service did nothing when dairy companies, instead of reducing their prices, have increased them.

“It is clear that there are noticeable increases in production costs, but these increases should be taken into account in the context of previous increases and not in the context of a year-on-year increase,” the statement concluded.