Romania’s Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu has asked the Romanian Competition Council to investigate the price markups that appear along the supply chain between farmers and consumers, arguing that they may contribute to rising food prices and difficulties faced by local producers. The information was reported by Agerpres.
According to the minister, significant differences exist between the price farmers receive and the price consumers pay in supermarkets. As an example, he pointed out that pork sold at the farm gate for around 4.3 lei per kilogram can reach 20–28 lei per kilogram in retail stores.
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Challenges for Romanian producers
Barbu also claimed that some Romanian farmers are forced to sell their products through offshore companies in order to access supermarket shelves. In his view, such mechanisms restrict direct market access for local producers and may contribute to farm closures.
He cited a case from the poultry sector, where more than 60% of the chicken products in a supermarket were sold under the Gustavi label, owned by a company established in 2024 with only a few employees and controlled by an offshore entity based in Cyprus.
According to the minister, the brand markets products originating from Romanian producers such as Avicola Crevedia, Coco Rico, Morandi, Avicola Focșani and EuroAvi.
Possible market investigation
The minister stated that the Ministry of Agriculture does not have direct control powers over such practices but intends to cooperate with the Competition Council and other authorities to analyze how commercial margins are formed.
The aim, he said, is to clarify who benefits from these markups and whether certain practices are disadvantaging both Romanian farmers and consumers.
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