The prices for most Green Monday staples have gone up this year, in some cases by around 3 per cent, but in others by up to 60 per cent, the price observatory revealed on Thursday.

Compared to one year ago, the cost of 800 g of Indo-pacific octopus with the Foodpax brand has gone up by 51 per cent from €5.50 to €8.35.

Staples such as tahini have seen a 29 per cent price increase for the Armeftis 700 g packaging, though smaller price hikes have been observed from different brands such as Rikkos which raised its price by 3 per cent.

As part of the research, prices were averaged from 76 points of sale, including 21 large supermarkets, 19 smaller stores and 36 fruit markets.

The traditional lagana flatbread has seen a marginal increase of 3 per cent, from €1.14 last year to €1.18 in 2023. The tahinopita has gone up by 23 per cent however from €1.51 to €1.86.

A packet of small calamari has gone up by 5 per cent, from €12.69 per kilo to €13.37 while a larger calamari packet has seen a larger price hike amounting to 21 per cent from €17.05 to €20.64.

What items have seen a price decrease however? Not many admittedly though most are in the fruit and vegetable section. Merlin oranges have gone down by 10 per cent from €1.61 last year to €1.45, while celery has decreased by 20 per cent from €1.95 to €1.56.