Boycotting chain stores, a failure from day one

The boycott of hypermarkets in our country between February 10-16, an action to which Romanian citizens were called by Călin Georgescu and the sovereignist parties, in order to protect Romanian farmers, proved to be a failure from the very first day of that action. The big retailers had stores full of buyers yesterday, on the first day of the week, even during the day, while in the markets in the Capital you could hardly see a single customer, except for large markets like Obor.

Why? Because the prices in those stores are much lower than those in the markets, given that the salary level in 2025 is equal to that in 2024 and pensions will be indexed to the inflation rate only in September, if the budget execution after seven months allows this.

As proof, yesterday I compared the prices in a Kaufland store in the Capital, in the Mega Mall area, with those in the nearby market, in the Dolphin area. At Kaufland, normal tomatoes brought from Turkey were priced at 7.99 lei per kilogram, the assortment of cluster tomatoes, also from Turkey, cost 11.99 lei per kilogram, Romanian carrots were sold for 2.99 lei per kilogram, white potatoes had a price displayed on the shelf of 2.99 lei per kilogram, red potatoes - 3.49 lei per kilogram, yellow onions - 2.79 lei per kilogram, red onions - 3.49 lei per kilogram, garlic - 6.99 lei per kilogram (4.99 lei for Kaufland card holders), Golden apples - 3.99 lei per kilogram, red apples from the Republic of Moldova - 5.49 lei per kilogram.

Instead, across the street, at Dolphin Market - Dolphin Commercial Complex as it is now more pompously called - the following prices were displayed on the stalls: regular tomatoes from Greece 15-20 lei per kilogram, bunch tomatoes from Greece - 18 lei per kilogram, garlic - 18 lei per kilogram, carrots - 5 lei per kilogram, red or white potatoes - 5 lei per kilogram or 4 lei per kilogram if you buy a 5-kilogram bag, onions - 5 lei per kilogram, apples - 5 lei per kilogram.

As you can see, the price differences are significant, in favor of hypermarkets, so the boycott announced by the sovereignists had no chance of success in Croatia and other Balkan states. Especially since, despite the statements of Călin Georgescu and AUR parliamentarian, Călin Măties, regarding the lack of local products in supermarkets, the economic reality shows that approximately 70% of the products available on the shelves of large stores are of Romanian origin.

• Minister of Agriculture: Most of the basic products in hypermarkets are made by Romanian processors

The respective percentage was confirmed yesterday by Florin Barbu, the Minister of Agriculture, who stated that a large part of the basic products, such as flour and oil, are made by local processors. Asked if there is a study confirming these figures, he stated that "there is such a study at the Competition Council". He also offered a concrete example: "If we go to a store and analyze basic products, such as flour, only one product comes from import, while the remaining 12 are made by Romanian processors. The same applies to oil".

The Minister of Agriculture sent a strong message to those involved in politics, asking them to "leave Romanian farmers and processors alone" and not create financial difficulties for them, and stressed that if there are concerns about unfair trade practices, these should be discussed within the Price Monitoring Committee, established at the ministry he heads

However, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu expressed his support for the boycott of supermarkets in response to the price increases, even though he drew attention to the fact that this measure could also affect Romanian producers. In a video posted on TikTok on Sunday evening, the Prime Minister presented his shopping made exclusively from Romanian products. Marcel Ciolacu stressed that while he understands and supports the frustration with the price increases in supermarkets, the optimal solution would be a legislative intervention, so that trade mark-ups are uniform throughout the production and distribution chain.

Unlike the two social democrats, Călin Georgescu was yesterday morning in February 16 Market and stated that supermarkets do not pay taxes on the profit made in our country and that they do not ensure a stable supply chain for local producers. Unfortunately for Georgescu, the statistical data is not favorable to him. Large retail chains, such as Lidl, Kaufland, Carrefour, Penny, Mega Image and Auchan, reported net profits of hundreds of millions of lei in 2023, according to data provided by the Termene.ro platform. Of these, Lidl had the highest net profit, exceeding 1 billion lei, followed by Kaufland, with 865 million lei, and Carrefour, with 249 million lei. These companies not only declared their profits, but they also pay considerable taxes to the Romanian state.

The only exception in this landscape is Profi, which recorded losses of over 200 million lei, being in the process of being taken over by Mega Image in a transaction estimated at 1.3 billion euros. This demonstrates that, far from being exempt from tax obligations, companies in the retail sector operate under conditions of competition and economic transparency.

Moreover, supermarkets and hypermarkets represent an essential segment of the Romanian economy, contributing significantly to job creation and tax collection for the state budget. With over 69,000 Romanian employees, these networks are among the largest employers in the country, providing stable jobs and contributing to national economic development.

Therefore, boycotting supermarkets would primarily affect the local economy. Large retailers collaborate closely with Romanian producers, and the decrease in sales could lead to significant financial losses for them. Moreover, the elimination of a large number of consumers from large stores could lead to staff reductions, directly affecting the jobs of Romanians working in this sector. At the same time, the decrease in supermarket revenues would also translate into a reduction in tax contributions, which would have a negative impact on the state budget and, implicitly, on public services financed from these taxes.