Easter feast to cost Greeks 5 pct more this year

The cost of a traditional holiday meal will be 5.3 percent higher this year for Greeks who celebrate Orthodox Easter on Sunday, the National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE) reported on Tuesday.

From a survey of Easter staples at supermarkets and Athens’s central market from April 1-5, ESEE found that lamb, the highlight of the Easter meal, is 20.37 percent more expensive this year compared to last, though the price of goat has gone up by just 4.41 percent.

The markup on lamb has been attributed to heavy losses sustained by livestock farmers around the country due to disease and a cold winter, the latter of which also hit fruit and vegetable crops, pushing their cost up by an average 18.35 percent.

The price of spinach, ESEE reported, has shot up by 62.79 percent and lettuce by 54.76 percent.

Products that are cheaper this year compared to last include eggs the food coloring used to dye them red and the traditional sweet tsoureki bread.

A five-member family will have to pay 104 euros for its traditional Easter feast on Sunday, compared 99 euros in 2014, ESEE reported.