Prices of non-alcoholic malt beverages have increased by 20-25% and the Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverages Producers Association is no longer in charge of pricing, as the Consumers and Producers Protection Organization has delegated pricing to production companies, secretary of the association said.
“Forty-four companies are members of the association and at present 19 companies are producing malt beverages,” Hamidreza Kamal Alavi was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
“A significant part of the raw materials needed for the production of malt beverages such as malt grains, barley, hops, essential oils and aluminum cans are being procured via imports. Exports account for 10% of the production,” he added.
The production of non-alcoholic malt beverages fell to 400-450 million liters last year (2021-22) compared with the five-year average of 700 million liters.
The sudden price rise came after the government recently decided to abolish the controversial practice of allocating cheap dollars at the rate of 42,000 rials per dollar, locally known as the Preferential Foreign Currency, to import essential goods, including corn, soymeal, unprocessed oil, oilseeds and barley, in addition to wheat, flour and medicine.
Instead, it is depositing cash directly to the account of income deciles 1 to 9. The market value of the dollar is currently above 300,000 rials.
“Until now, we have been paying to producers [read importers] but now the subsidies go to consumers. In fact, the Preferential Foreign Currency has not been ceased, rather the allocation method has changed,” President Ebrahim Raisi said in a televised speech on the eve of announcing the move earlier this month.
In his speech, Raisi emphasized that the removal of cheap dollar allocation will not lead to a price hike in wheat, flour, medicine and gasoline.
However, the move has led to a dramatic rise in the prices of essential goods.
Also known as necessity or basic goods, essential goods are products consumers will buy, regardless of changes in income levels.
However, the prices of other food products have risen suddenly in a ripple effect.
Latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show that with a coefficient of 26.64%, the CPI of “food and beverage” group stood at 586.1 in the month to May 21, indicating a 3.3% increase compared to the previous month.
The index registered a year-on-year increase of 49.6% and the group’s average annual inflation was at 49.6%.
