“We had a very constructive meeting with a two-sided dialogue. Questions were asked, and we asked questions as well. Everyone is ready to review any number individually or in a group,” said Sopio Kashakashvili, Executive Director of the Retail Association, following the cross-government coordination commission meeting on food prices held at the Government Administration.

On the question, “If there is a resource, at what cost can prices decrease?”, Sopio Kashakashvili said that the issue could not be resolved through a single meeting and that plans and long-term forecasts would be elaborated over time.

“The Association members and representatives of food retailers participated in the meeting. Everyone is ready to review any number individually or in a group. Similar meetings will continue, we will work for some period of time, and it will be determined where all this comes from, why some numbers are higher or lower. This was the first meeting, and nothing concrete was revealed,” she said.

According to Sopio Kashakashvili, the meeting was constructive, in a dialogue regime, and it is likely to be a long process to address challenges that shape food prices.

“It was highlighted that local production should be promoted and the government is ready to contribute to this. Plans will be elaborated gradually. It is hard for me to say anything specific after the first meeting. As for retailers, all data is public and transparent. They are posted on a report and any interested individual can view them. We have supermarkets of all segments, be it discounters or premium class products. The information is public. The Ministry of Economy and various research organizations, including TBC Capital and Galt & Taggart, make researches and they are also available,” she said.

Kashakashvili remarked that further work will show whether the price increase is natural or not.

“The Prime Minister’s initiative is welcoming since, as consumers, we all feel the issue of prices on ourselves and, if there is an opportunity or space that would regulate these issues, we, the retail sector, will hail it. There are various mechanisms – tax policy loyalty, bank system advantages. We have high bank fees when paying with a card at a terminal. The FMSG sector in Georgia is still developing and is at the development stage.

When you compare yourself to Europe, they are 10-15 years ahead of us. They have local production, etc. This is a natural process. Competition is high, and the sector is developing with good regional expansion. Therefore, everything takes time and requires relevant work. The meetings will reveal if the numbers were realistic or unrealistic,” she said.