Consumers are having to dig deeper into their pockets for fruit and pulses, as the low temperatures have pushed up prices, a survey carried out by Phileleftheros shows.
Tomatoes are selling at €2.50 a kilo compared to €1.50 in the same period last year, while greenhouse cucumbers will set you back €3.30 a kilo compared to €1.50. Field cucumbers have doubled in price to €4 a kilo from €2 a kilo in February 2019.
The price of pulses has shot up with some of them now more than €5 a kilo. Fresh white beans now cost €5.50 a kilo compared to €4, while green beans, peas and broad beans are €5 from €3–€3.50 on February 17 last year. Courgettes cost €3.50 from €1.50 a kilo, cabbage €2 from €1.20, artichokes €3.30 from €1.70 and green peppers €3.30 from €2.50.
Potato prices at 90 cent a kilo are the same as last year, despite the heavy toll the frost has taken on the crop, while fruit prices are also similar to 2019.
Polis Kattashis, president of the association of green grocers, said the increase in the price of vegetables was due to the bad weather of recent weeks. He said that normally prices after the holiday season edge down, but the cold weather has led to costlier vegetables and pulses. Fruit prices remain logical, he added.
