The ‘cost of living’ hit the table badly. Even going to the grocery store and buying fruit and vegetables became a luxury. Tomatoes, whose weight was 4-5 TL last year, are now sold for 30-35 TL this year. Both the producer, the seller and the consumer ‘rioted’ and demanded ‘audit’. We cannot produce, we cannot sell, we cannot buy.
According to Yeniduzen, the citizens reproached by saying, “We buy a product, and after we buy it, we consume it less so that it doesn’t finish early”.
Citizens, who said, “We can no longer stand,” said that the government should produce a solution to the cost of living.
Producers and sellers said that the Market Law should come into force and said, “When the Market Law comes into force, a price will be determined, and the manufacturer will know that he will sell at that price and will act accordingly.”
Stating that the reason for the high prices is not due to the farmers, the producers said that the system made both the producer and the consumer aggrieved, and attributed the high prices to the attitude of the traders.
According to Yeniduzen, Traders Union Secretary Hakkı Haktanır said that he is a consumer at the end of the day and mentioned that an effective control mechanism is a must.
Bayram Avcı: “This will always continue as long as the State Law is not enacted”
“Our distress has been the same for years and we say it every time. Now the Law of the State must come into effect. As long as the Law of State is not enacted, this will always continue.
The manufacturer will sell the product that it produces at a high cost cheaply, and the consumer will buy what he buys from the aisle at a high price. When we look at it, a 10-year increase was made between 2021 and 2022.
We bought the medicine for 180 TL last year, and now we buy it for 700 TL. If our people go to the market with the full minimum wage, they can only buy 6 bags of products.
When there is a Market Law, a price will be determined, and the manufacturer will know that he will sell at that price and act accordingly. Most importantly will know what the price is.
Currently, traders buy tomatoes from us for 15 TL at a dirty price. When the withholding tax and 20 percent tax are included in this, the price can go down to 9 TL.
The manufacturer produces despite this cost, but sells its product cheaply. With this system, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
Gazi Güney: “The merchant buys the product at a price he wants and leaves”
“There is a huge difference between the price at which the manufacturer disposes of a product and the prices in the aisle. Many people say that the manufacturer wins, but that is not the case.
With the current system, the producer cannot win, and the consumer’s pocket is burning. The winners are intermediaries and traders in between.
In this country, producers should go to cooperatives and the Market Law should come into effect. If these happen, the problems will disappear because the price is certain, the producer will produce more consciously while producing. More importantly, all manufacturers will act together.
Producers need traders, and traders need producers. At the moment, the producer collects his product from the field to give to the merchant, the merchant takes the product without discussing a price or an invoice, and then makes the payment to the producer at a price he wants.
The manufacturer cannot even defend its right legally. There is a reason for this, and that is because there is no unity. As producers, we both obey and complain. There is no place in the world where the price is not discussed when giving a product to the merchant.
Vuslat Büyükalsansak: “ A family can never get along with this minimum wage”
“It’s getting expensive and it’s everybody’s problem. We come to a grocery store, onions are 15 TL per kilo, tomatoes cost 30-35 TL. No one can get out of this business with this minimum wage.
A family can never get by on this minimum wage. Should people pay for their gas bills? Pay your bills? Do you look after your child? Or will you cover the cost of the kitchen?.
It’s not going to go like this, and there’s very little time before people have a blast.”
Nazan Topal: “We buy a product, and after we buy it, we consume it a little so that it does not finish too soon”
“There is a great cost in the country and this is increasing day by day. A product we buy for 20 TL today becomes 30 TL after 2 days. We are in a situation where we can’t buy cucumbers, tomatoes and dried fruits.
We buy it, and after we buy it, we consume it little by little so that it doesn’t finish early. The government now needs to control and work on prices. People are not getting along, we are going through very difficult times.”
İlhan Çoban: “Potato has become the food of the rich”
“While we used to buy a sack of potatoes for 20 TL, now we buy 3 kilos of potatoes for 70 TL. Potato used to be the food of the poor, now it has become the food of the rich. There is a great cost in our country and we are now zero.
We used to fly kites when we were little. When the string of the kite broke, we would take it and go away. So now we’ve missed the end of the rope, we can’t catch it.”
Mustafa Kalaağası: “It’s getting expensive. We are melting day by day”
“The kilo of tomatoes and the price of onions are deplorable. There is a great cost and the state of the country is deplorable. We have producer friends, when we talk to them, they say that they produce expensively and sell cheaply. This means that there is a problem with the brokers in between.
Expensiveness has taken its toll and there is no such thing as purchasing power in our people. We are melting day by day, this needs to be called a stop now”.
Eşref Özbilgili (Maxıl Vegetable and Fruit Market): “We’ve been saying the Market Law for 20 years, it never came into effect”
“Tomato production should not be done between July and October in this country because in those days there was no quality product. The biggest mistake in tomato is in the state wing.
What needs to be done is that the producer will be told not to produce tomatoes between the dates in question 1 year in advance and it will be free to bring tomatoes from Turkey.
The producer will act accordingly, so that both the producer and the consumer will win. I also produce, but it has to be done consciously. In order to be conscious, it is necessary to act together.
According to the announced prices and calculations, Turkey tomatoes should cost 17 TL for greengrocery, while it costs between 22 and 25 TL for greengrocery. When the greengrocer puts his own profit, this price rises to 30-35 TL. We are talking, but there is no agricultural policy in this country.
The State Law should be passed and then amended according to the conditions of our country. 20 years ago, we were saying that the Hal’s Law should be passed, and we are saying it now. It is not requested that this law enter into force because it is not in anyone’s interest.”
Oğuzhan Avcı (Ya Beleş – Alayköy): “The biggest reason for the expensiveness is the merchants”
“The reason why consumers buy expensive products is the merchants. Traders sell a product they buy for 2 TL to the market at a higher price, and at the end of the day, our people consume it at high prices because the markets put their own profits on it.
In order to correct this situation, a control and inspection mechanism is necessary. And now a Law of Conditions must come into force. When the Market Law comes into effect, the prices will be clear and everyone will know their account.
A year ago, the price of tomato was 4-5 TL, now it is 30-35 TL. We see it every day, we come across it. In the past, people were shopping more, now they are shopping less. Salaries have increased, but salaries are melting away in the face of this expensiveness.
As long as merchants continue to do so, our people will continue to buy expensive. We need to get ahead of this.”
Hakkı Haktanır, Secretary of the Union of Merchants:“An effective control mechanism is a must”
According to Yeniduzen, Hakkı Haktanır, the Secretary of the Union of Merchants, who was the target of criticism arrows about the expensiveness said that effective market control is a must at the current stage, and stated that they are in favor of enacting the Marketplace Law.
Haktanir made the following assessment:
“There is a supply-demand situation in domestic production. In other words, if the production is high, the prices naturally decrease. If the production is less, the prices will increase according to the demand. This is a basic rule of economics. Thus, the market establishes its own balance.
Freight prices in exports are also in dollars and exporters cannot afford it. We must not forget that at the end of the day, we are all consumers. What needs to be done at this point is definitely market control.
If there is no effective control mechanism to create the balance, everyone determines a price for himself and sells accordingly, since he cannot see the future. In this case, it reflects on both the producer and the consumer.
We have been in favor of enacting the State Law for years. Manufacturers are right to want the State Act to come into effect. Since 2006, it has passed the Council of Ministers with 7 versions, it was published in the Official Gazette, but could not enter into force due to the constant change of governments.
It is the State Law that will protect the producer, the consumer, and everyone involved in this business.”