Bulgarian consumers boycott major supermarkets to protest rising food prices

Consumers in Bulgaria have embarked on a boycott of major food retail chains and supermarkets in the country over discontent with rising grocery prices.

Last Thursday's 20 February boycott, the second of this year, led to a nearly 30% drop in the turnover of the stores, according to local media.

Many consumers in the country say they hope the boycott will bring about a change in prices.

"I hope it works out. I don't approve of the extremely aggressive policies of the big grocery chains," said Ivet Tabakova, a grocery store owner.

"They attract customers by sharply lowering the prices of certain products that one can easily compare and see a difference. For example, 15 to 20 products and everything else has very high markups," Tabakova stressed.

For many small grocery store owners, the boycott has led to a favourable increase in sales, with regular customers purchasing more foodstuffs at their shops.

"Customers come around and buy basic food products such as sugar, flour, yoghurt and oil. And for me, attitude is important; when you have attitude, the customer keeps coming back and finds something else to buy.

Organisers of the boycott are demanding supermarkets limit their profit margins on foodstuffs to less than 30% and want parliament to pass a law to regulate prices. They have called for a fresh boycott on 27, February and urged the authorities to act.

The government has said they are taking new measures to shorten supply chains and remove unfair practices in the sales of food products. Government authorities and regulatory agencies say they have begun price inspections.

"We are monitoring how information is provided to consumers and whether there is any deception. Also the correctness of prices, unrealistic promotions," said Ignat Asenov, head of the Commission for Consumer Protection.

"The information from the inspections will be used to draft a law to regulate supply chain contracts.".

Consumer protests and boycotts over rising food inflation and high prices began sweeping across the Balkan region in January, starting in Croatia. A similar boycott has taken place in Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Greece.