Food prices have increased this year by approximately 10% compared to the same period in 2025, and after Easter there will be new increases, in the context of the increase in electricity, gas and fuel costs, says Aurel Popescu, president of the Romanian Employers' Federation of the Food Industry – Romalimenta, quoted by Agerpres.
“The 10% increase in 2026 compared to 2025 was normal until now, because the VAT increased and energy was liberalized. But now things are totally different from normal. We are far from normal for all the states. All the states have taken measures in such a way as to counteract this increase in fuel prices, and we, since April 1, also have the increase in gas prices. Now there are some increases from a day by day, especially in this area of energy – gas, electricity and fuel. We have nothing to do but to account for them and, after Easter, we will adjust the prices in such a way that we can resist in the market”, said Aurel Popescu for Agerpres.
He accused the lack of effective measures on the part of the authorities, claiming that “the government does not take measures in step with everything that is happening at the world level”:
“The state collects extra money, and we spend more and we want to keep inflation in place. We will never keep it, because it forces our product to change prices. In my opinion, we do not know how to manage. The business environment is not taken into account. The authorities meet with us to confirm that they have met, they say they have taken note, but they are doing everything they know. I also had a meeting with the president of the Chamber To the deputies, Sorin Grindeanu, we also had the tripartite meeting Government-Patronage-Union, with the prime minister, who noted that too”.
In his opinion, the impact of the diesel excise tax reduction is limited and volatile, considering that a decrease of 30 money can be quickly canceled by the fluctuations of the international market.
In this context, the employers' organization submitted several proposals to the authorities, such as: expanding the facilities for transporters and for vehicles under 7.5 tons used in food distribution, the gradual reduction of excise duties and Value Added Tax (VAT) to compensate for additional costs and access to gas at competitive prices for the food industry.
“I don't think we will face food shortages”
The President of Romalimenta emphasized that the food industry can provide the necessary products for the market: “I don't think we will face a shortage of food. We must have energy to be able to produce. We have raw materials, we have everything, without problems, but, I repeat: we must have energy to be able to produce. Anyway, we produce the products that the population requests, regardless of the costs, but we include all costs in the selling price.”
Regarding the milling and baking area, Popescu mentioned that the effects of price increases are already visible in consumption, where a decrease in consumption of 3.5-4% was recorded.
He said that for the Easter period, the pastry shops estimate a slightly smaller quantity of cakes and pascha, compared to the one during the winter holidays.
“We are going according to the quantity requested by the big stores and by the population, which amounts to about 7 million cookies, less than at Christmas, because there were more holidays at Christmas and New Year, and the demand was a little higher, but we maintain the price we had during the winter holidays and do not change anything. The changes will possibly be after the Easter holidays have passed. At the moment, we already have a 6.5% increase in costs. We'll see after the holidays what the influences are, we'll gather them and we'll make the decision, each entrepreneur when he thinks he can't resist anymore”, said Aurel Popescu.
The Romanian food industry is one of the largest employers in the economy, with approximately 200,000 employees and a turnover of over 30 billion euros.
Romalimenta represents the majority of associations and patronages in the food and beverage industry, alongside Romanian and foreign processing companies.
