The cost of sunflower oil continues to rise in Albania, despite the establishment of a government body to regulate the process, causing chaos for small business owners.
Today, the standard cooking product cost is 317 lek (EUR 2.61) from 299 lek (EUR 2.47) per litre at wholesale. In supermarkets, the cost is fixed at 321 lek (EUR 2.65), meaning anyone caught selling the product at a higher price faces fines and license revocation.
But businesses are not happy, noting that a minimal profit margin impacts their ability to operate.
“The profit margin set by the board for the sunflower oil product is very low in a small business. We are supplied by wholesale items which bring us the goods themselves in the store and for the price we depend on them,” one small business owner told Monitor.
They added that there is no profit to be made when you add taxes to the cost. This has resulted in many lowering the amount of products they keep on the shelves.
“Due to the low-profit margin, I am forced to reduce the amount of supplies. Currently, in the store, I have seven boxes of sunflower oil (100 litres) in the store, and I do not plan to make other supplies “, they added.
When it comes to flour, some say they are being forced to sell it at a loss. They buy wholesale at one price and then find the cost reduced the next week, meaning they lose money when they sell it to the customer. This means that it is not worth stocking the product with sunflower oil.
Representative from oil company Olim, Aredi Sado, said that problems with prices would continue as the world lacks sunflower seeds and oil, previously produced by Ukraine and Russia.
“The problem of oil will continue, and this is due to prices. Oil prices today in Greece are EUR 4.50 per litre. This is happening in Italy, France, Germany and other countries. “Even the quantities of supplies are limited by European countries”, he said.
