The war that started with Russia’s attack on Ukraine upset the economic balances, especially in European countries. As the energy and grain prices imported from these countries skyrocketed, as well as the problems in the supply chain, triggered the expensiveness, almost all of the indispensables of daily life, from food to fuel, electricity to natural gas, increased noticeably.
While the German Retailers Association announced that the increase in food products was up to 30 percent, it was reported that small tradesmen had to increase prices after the country’s leading food retail chains started raising prices.
Aldi, one of Germany’s leading food retail chains, had increased the prices of approximately 180 products, mainly meat and oil products.
Prices for products such as sunflower oil and flour, which were normally imported from Ukraine, but which had a shortage due to the war, doubled; however, another problem is that it is almost impossible to find the products in question in the markets due to the depletion of stocks.
For this reason, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, which is not uncommon in Germany
aisles with basic foodstuffs such as oil, flour and pasta
is completely empty. In some markets, only one package or bottle per customer has been restricted for these products.
Especially as the oil shortage gained a serious dimension, many buffets and restaurants decided to remove oil-based dishes such as french fries from their menus.
Doner price doubled
Expensiveness in the food industry has left the sausage behind in Germany in recent years
It was also reflected in the doner kebab, which has become the most important ‘fast food’ by leaving it behind. In Germany, which has a population of 82 million, more than two million servings of doner kebab are consumed per day.
Its annual average turnover of 6.5 billion Euros, manufactures, doner buffets and
Doner kebab, an industry that creates nearly 30 thousand jobs, along with those working in restaurants, had its share of the expensiveness.
The price of doner kebab, which is sold for 3 Euros under normal conditions in the capital Berlin, has increased by 100 percent to 6 Euros. Remzi Kaplan, one of the largest doner manufacturers in Europe, said that for the first time in 50 years, there has been such a price increase in doner kebabs sold in Germany.
Kaplan said, “When we say doner, we think of the sandwich that we have bought for 3 euros or 4 euros for years; it is a very convenient and nutritious product. As such, it has become Germany’s national ‘fast food’ dish. Currently, there are more than a thousand doner kebabs in Berlin alone. There is a buffet and a kebab restaurant. But this cost directly affects our industry. From where you look, there is an expensiveness in the whole chain. Everything from the places we buy meat from, to transportation, from the raw materials we use to salads, tomatoes, has increased by an average of 25 percent. You have to add energy prices to this. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the price hikes made by doner shops for their products.
show us understanding. But in general, there will be a natural decline in spending,” he said.
Annual inflation in Germany rose to 7.3 percent last March, the highest level since the 1981 Iran-Iraq war led to a rise in oil prices, according to data from the German Federal Statistical Office. Consumers had to spend 39.5 percent more on fuel in March than in the same month last year. Food prices rose 6.2 percent in one year.