Turkish board shakes hands with two supermarket chains for cheap red meat sales

ANKARA

The Meat and Milk Board (ESK) has signed a deal to sell cheaper red meat to two supermarket chains in a bid to ease rising meat prices in Turkey.

In a statement on Nov. 2, the ESK said a total of eight companies had applied to undertake country-wide sales for a lower cost until Oct. 31, Doğan News Agency reported.

“After our evaluations, the A101 and BİM supermarket chains were found qualified to meet the criteria that we had put. We signed the respective deals with these two companies and started to deliver carcass meat to them to start sales in their supermarkets in 81 provinces,” the board stated.

One kg of minced meat will be sold for 29 liras ($7.58) and one kg of meat cubes will be sold for 31 liras ($8.09) in these supermarkets, according to the statement.

These chains will not be allowed to sell red meat for higher than the above-mentioned prices, the ESK stated.

Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Eşref Fakıbaba had earlier said the government was seeking ways to permanently cut red meat prices, vowing to see up to 40 percent decreases in prices.

Amid criticism from producers, Fakıbaba said some measures would also be taken to offer incentives to prop up meat production.