Some supermarket chains in Poland have begun to ration sales of sugar after a rush of purchases by consumers fearing shortages and price rises left many shelves empty.
Agriculture minister Henryk Kowalczyk, however, has assured that there is no shortage of sugar in the country and that its temporary unavailability in shops was the result of panic buying.
“A panic arose over a minor issue, namely logistical problems at one retail chain,” Kowalczyk told Polskie Radio. “The state has no problem with supplies…but it will take a few days to calm the panic. I reassure everyone. The sugar is there, but it is also not a product that should be consumed in large quantities.”
The problem was also exacerbated by the fact that some small shops started to buy sugar in large quantities from supermarkets, as it was being sold there cheaper than in wholesalers, reported the Rzeczpospolita daily, citing industry sources.
To jest hit.
Cukru nie ma. A i tak podrożał. Na 4 zł
Jeszcze 3 dni temu był po 3,50 zł.Tzn, i tak go nie było. Ale nie było go po 3,50zł
Dziś już go nie ma po 4 złTermin inflacja ukryta nabiera nowego znaczenia 😉 pic.twitter.com/x38S74eVRj
— Rafał Mundry (@RafalMundry) July 26, 2022
“We have been observing for some time that, due to the decreasing availability of this product on the Polish market, some customers purchase non-retail quantities of sugar in our shops,” Marcin Hadaj, corporate communications manager at Biedronka, a large discount chain, told news service Wirtualne Media.
Some customers of big supermarket chains would buy 50-100 kilos of sugar at once, reported Rzeczpospolita. As a result, Biedronka has restricted shoppers to a maximum purchase of 10 kilos. Several other chains, including Aldi and Netto, introduced similar measures.
A number of commentators have likened the situation to Poland’s communist era, when empty shelves were a common sight and many products were difficult to get hold of.
“My mother-in-law felt 46 years younger today,” tweeted Krzysztof Adam Kowalczyk, Rzeczpospolita’s economy editor. “A cashier in a the local shop told to her in a conspiratorial whisper: ‘Krysia, I have something for you.’ And she pulled out a kilo of sugar from under the counter.”
Oj, czasy wczesnej młodości się przypominają. To nawet byłoby miłe, gdyby oprócz braku cukru, również lat nam ubywało. A tu nie dość, że człowiek starszy, to jeszcze po 35 latach do sklepów wróciły puste półki a do władzy zdeprawowani kłamcy, durnie i nieudacznicy. Ech… pic.twitter.com/sqy3ylLFol
— Krzysztof Luft🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@KrzyLuft) July 26, 2022
Experts reassure that Poland, which is Europe’s third largest sugar producer, has sufficient stocks of the commodity. But they note that its price has risen by around 40% in a year due to the rising costs of fertilisers, crop protection products, fuel and labour. Inflation reached a 25-year high last month.
Sugar prices are also being affected by an increase in demand for biofuels, produced from sugar beet, said Credit Agricole bank economist Jakub Olipra, quoted by Business Insider Polska.
“Really, I would not be worried about the availability of sugar on the domestic market,” said Olipra, adding that “no logistics system can handle consumers buying sugar in wholesale quantities”.
According to the Association of Sugar Producers in Poland, in the 2021/22 season, sugar production in Poland reached more than 2.3 million tonnes, compared to 1.98 million tonnes a year earlier, reports Business Insider.
Main photo credit: Myriam Zilles / Unsplash
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
