Consumers in Cyprus are complaining about the high price of potatoes, with officials attributing the steep increase to a shortage of spuds in the Cypriot market lasting almost three months now.
Despite reassurances from stakeholders that fresh potatoes will be hitting the market soon to push prices down, spuds have seen their price sky-rocket to €2 per kilo. In September and October, the shortage was created by a drought while early exports left the island with a serious shortage of potatoes with prices in September and October going up to €1.30 and €1.40 respectively.
A senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture said that the absence of potatoes from the market was acutely felt, while prices are currently higher than the same period last year. “Potatoes were sold at around 1.80 euro mid-November 2017, while prices now are closing in on €2,” said the official.
He attributed the high prices to the fact that emphasis was given to exports over the local market. “Coupled with problems caused by the drought, this led to the market being left with very small quantities of potatoes,” said the officer.
