Slovak foods vanishing from shelves

Slovak foodstuffs are disappearing from retail chain shelves in Slovakia, according to an item in the SME daily on Tuesday. On average this year, only 37 percent of the food available on Slovak retail chain shelves was Slovak, while they made up 50 percent of shelf space in 2011, according to a recent survey conducted by the agency GfK for the Kaufland retail chain. In addition to Kaufland, products from Tesco, Lidl, Coop Jednota, Metro, CBA and Billa retail chains were included in the survey. Customers can most frequently find Slovak milk, mineral water and alcohol on supermarket shelves. The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry has discovered that retailers burden Slovak foodstuffs with higher margins than foreign food, thus putting them at a disadvantage.