The Cyprus Consumers Association has accused supermarkets of inflating prices on products labeled as “on sale.”

The Cyprus Consumers’ Association has accused major supermarket chains of labeling many products as “on offer” or “promotional,” when in fact they cost more than similar non‑discounted products in other chains. The association’s chair, Marios Drousiotis, cited data from the e‑kalathi platform, which allows real-time price comparisons.

According to the Association, a price analysis as of July 29 covered 478 product items, of which 267 were available in all five supermarkets surveyed: Sklavenitis, Athienitis, Ioannidis, Metro, and Alpha Mega. Comparison showed that the lowest total basket cost was in Sklavenitis at €926.52, while Alpha Mega was the most expensive at €1,049.87—a difference of over €123 in total :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.

Experts paid special attention to so‑called “offers” and “discounts.” In Alpha Mega on August 3, there were 89 promotional items. But among them, 78 were priced higher than the same products without discount at Sklavenitis, and 60 higher than at Athienitis. This raised concerns that consumers may be misled :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.

Therefore, the Consumers’ Association urges citizens not to rely solely on marketing labels but to carefully check the actual final price. The Association also expressed dissatisfaction with the passive stance of the official Consumer Protection Service at the Ministry of Commerce and pledged to take a more active role in monitoring and informing the public.

It plans to regularly publish updated research results and price data on its website to help consumers make more informed choices :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.