The picture remains bleak regarding the prices of basic consumer goods, which remain at particularly high levels, due to increased energy costs and inflationary pressures.
According to existing data, the high prices are here to stay for an indefinite period of time, even into 2027, as even the most optimistic scenarios do not foresee a de-escalation of the situation by the end of the year.
Speaking to InBusinessNews, the President of the Association of Consumer Goods Suppliers (SPPEK), George Tsakistos, expresses his concern in view of the winter season, during which energy needs are particularly high, driving up energy costs, which creates intense pressure for price increases. “Things will be worse in the coming period, with the arrival of winter. We must be ready to accept greater pressure from product suppliers for price increases, which will come into effect and reach the final consumer,” he notes, emphasising that geopolitical developments and their effects on energy and fuel costs leave no room for cost absorption.
The ongoing situation leaves no room for compromise.
With indications of significant increases in the prices of basic goods in the coming months being strong, any attempt to delay the imposition of price increases or contain prices appears to be in vain.
"To some extent, distributors have been trying for several months to hold down prices. However, we are not talking about a matter of weeks, but months and an ongoing situation, as the pressures have been strong since last March," Tsakistos explains, emphasising that in some cases, requests from product producers for price increases come for the second and/or third time in a short period of time.
"Any company that decides that the price of a product should be changed gives retailers a period of adjustment and then proceeds to change the pricing policy," the President of SPPEK states characteristically, pointing out that the final recipient of the revised prices will inevitably be the consumer.
Name brands, as well as private label products, are affected
Asked whether specific product categories will be affected, George Tsakistos explains that all basic products are linked to energy and inevitably there are indications of upward changes in their prices, while noting that both branded brands and private label products will be affected.
With the increases that consumers are expected to face in the coming period being unprecedented, suppliers estimate that no substantial change for the better is expected soon, even if an agreement is reached immediately between the parties involved (ed. in the unstable situation), which creates strong shocks in retail, wholesale and by extension households and consumers.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
