Easter 2026, to the extreme: from full baskets in the supermarket to “put me 1 leu anchovies” in the markets. Greens prices have exploded REPORT
The crowd was in full swing, the shops were full, the merchants did everything they could to take advantage of the wave of shoppers they had been longing for lately. Supermarkets and market shops seem like two different worlds.
Extreme shopping at Easter PHOTO: A. Mitran
Although, if you ask anyone how they are doing for the Easter meal, the answer is – everything has become more expensive, we can hardly cope -, the streets are full of people carrying smaller or larger nets, full or half-meshed.
Lamb meat, the most sought after product
The most sought after product in recent days was lamb. It sold out in a few days, so those who woke up two days before Easter wanting to buy, postponing the purchase either in the hope that the price would drop further, or out of a desire to buy “as fresh as possible”, risked running out.
The shopping list was shorter for many PHOTO: AM
“We thought about buying three days ago, after which we decided that it would be a meal without lamb. Now we've changed our minds and can't find it anymore. I've looked at other stores, I've also looked at butchers, it's nowhere to be found. At most small or pastrami”, complains a shopper arriving in another third supermarket in the municipality of Slatina to check off the last unpurchased product on the shopping list for Easter.
Shop workers say, for their part, that very large quantities of lamb meat were ordered, but they could not risk staying with the goods on the shelf by ordering much more than they predicted as sales.
The table will have everything, but in smaller quantities, say Romanians PHOTO: AM
With or without lamb on the shelf, shopping carts fill up quickly. People, it's true, look more carefully not to put too many strategically placed products in their way but which are not on the shopping list, but in the end, many hundreds of lei are still collected to pay. “And what? That, however, I didn't take as much as in the past years, and with all that it costs a lot more!”, the buyers comment after passing the house.
At the door of shops and beggars they are doing better than on ordinary days. There are also people who send them “at work, not reaching out”but there are also quite a few who hand them 5 or 10 lei or choose a product from the basket and give it away. “Let them, me, I know they want money, but if they throw it away it's their sin!”often ends the discussion between the family members who did not pass by the beggars carelessly.
The beverage department, as it happens at all holidays, is perhaps the most often stocked in stores. Next is the one with vegetables and greens. Green onions and green garlic, two important ingredients for the preparation of lamb shank, have also boosted the sales of manufacturers and market traders.
Higher prices from hour to hour for lettuce, onion and garlic
The sale went well, two days before Easter, to producers and traders in the agri-food markets. In fact, shoppers have noted that prices have skyrocketed as product stocks dwindle. “At 10:00 a.m. it was 2 lei for a salad, 2.5 lei for a large one, and now (ed. – two hours later) it was 3-4 lei. The same goes for green garlic. They grew quite a lot and quite quickly.” commented the buyers on Friday, April 10, 2026, in the “Zahana” agricultural market in Slatina.
The price of greens has increased PHOTO: A. Mitran
Traders say, however, that there are days in which “the sale was dead”, it has barely loosened up a bit since yesterday. “Green onions and green garlic sell the best. People buy it for the dregs. And the salad still works, but not as well.” reveals a saleswoman.
“Since this morning I can see that the greens did well, but also the cucumbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes are imported, you realize that we were not allowed to bring from our producers what are their prices nowbecause no one would have bought them”says another trader.
The story of the Way of the Cross from the Straja resort, one of the most difficult pilgrimages in Romania
Greens, on the list of many buyers PHOTO: A. Mitran
“In my place, yes, cucumbers are cheaper, and from next week you will get them even cheaper. They are 15 lei (n. ed. – in the rest of the market they sell for 20 lei/kg and there were even 25 lei/kg), I bring them from Matca, from Galati”another seller gives details.
“It's going very hard. We sit and rest. The sale is fixed as you see”
In the fish and meat section of the “Zahana” market, the atmosphere is sad. Every now and then a buyer comes by.
Ready-made products found buyers more easily FOTo: A. Mitran
“With us, no, the sale doesn't work at all. People ask for lamb. It's nowhere to be found here. Look what's around here! That's how we live day to day. I pass by less and less often. They buy some organs, a chicken liver, two legs, they ask us for 1 lei anchovies, a 3 lei hake, smaller, like this…”describes what a saleswoman faces.
Weak sales in the fish and meat sector in “Zahana” Market PHOTO: A. Miitran
“Very difficult. We sit and rest. Outside, yes, at the other stores, but here… It didn't work today either.” confirms the saleswoman from the neighboring shop window.
“It has been going very badly for a few days. Yesterday and today let's say there was something else, but comparing it with last year's sales, half the sales volume. And we haven't changed anything in terms of prices. You still buy lamb loin, cheeses are still available, but something else… There are also people who buy by the kilo, but you should know that there are also people who buy by the slice. I say – give me 5 lei too”says the representative of a store with products from the manufacturer.
“Those of my generation, who also ate from a clay pot, still buy”
Among the Romanian greens and mostly imported fruits, the products of an artisan made their way. He is part, he says, of the family of the last wood carvers from Slatina. He has for sale, in addition to the objects made with his father-in-law, also ceramic objects from Horezu, brought from the craftsmen in the neighboring county. People stop, admire them, but don't buy as much as the producers would need. “Those of my generation, who ate out of clay pots, buy more, you know. They also buy spoons, they use them to prepare food. I think that if people had money they would be much more sought after. We ended up selling a lot and a little of them, but it's work, you know, we take them nine times by hand. The ladies still buy bridles, we call them, for kneading, but also, who kneads, that devices have taken our place”, explains Gheorghița Barbu.
Father Constantin Necula: “Nothing in the profile of the commercial assumption of Easter is about Christ”
Gheorghița Barbu, craftsman PHOTO: A. Mitran
He sells in the market only from time to time, usually around bigger holidays, like Easter and like Thursday, Joimari, which used to be, at least for the potters, a real blessing, because they managed to sell a lot of cups. “They're not even looking for these anymore. In fact, people would like them, only they think they're expensive, they buy and give away the others, brought from China”, Gheorghița Barbu also said.
Ceramic products – admired, but rarely bought PHOTO: A. Mitran
It also reveals how to use clay pots for oven dishes. Before putting the preparation, the vessel should be filled with water for about two hours.
