In Greece, the price of lentils and other legumes has skyrocketed by the time they reach supermarket shelves, despite being sold at very low prices to consumers at the farm. Lentils costing €0.65 per kilo at the farm are now priced around €5.50 per kilo in stores, highlighting the growing gap between producers and retail prices.
Layers of Costs Drive Prices Up
Industry experts say multiple stages of handling contribute to the steep increase. These include harvesting, transport, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, and the profit margins of both intermediaries and retail outlets.
Apostolos Raftopoulos, President of the Union of Consumer Workers of Greece, criticized the situation as “exploitation and profiteering at the expense of consumers.”
Producers Struggling to Maintain Low Prices
Thomas Manos, Secretary General of the National Interprofessional Organization of Legumes, explained that producers have absorbed rising costs for agricultural inputs and labor while trying to keep legume prices low. “In this chain from farm to shelf, the links have broken,” he said, emphasizing the challenges producers face in keeping products affordable.
The Challenge of Mislabeling
Beyond costs, mislabeling and “Greek origin” fraud further complicate the market. Angelos Patakas, Professor at the University of Patras, noted that this issue affects not only legumes but other products as well. Authorities are being urged to intervene and strengthen controls, but producers say regulatory enforcement remains insufficient.
