Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
Slovakia overtook the rest of the EU in June when its food prices saw the most dramatic increase. Food prices on the shelves of Slovak stores increased by 0.5 percent, the SITA newswire reported.
Although traders are pushing prices up, Slovak food producers face constant pressure to supply food at lower prices, the Agriculture Ministry said.
“Food prices in Slovakia rose the highest of all Visegrad Group countries in June,” said Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matečná of the Slovak National Party (SNS), as quoted by SITA.
At the same time, the price increase does not reflect the prices at which retail chains purchase food from Slovak suppliers. Suppliers, on the other hand, are pushed to discount their prices over the long term, which prevents them from investing sufficiently in new technologies, giving fair pay to their staff and covering the growing prices of raw materials, Matečná continued.
