The price of beef in supermarkets and butchers is under scrutiny this week, as agriculture minister Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst requested that Nma, the national competition authority, launch an investigation into alleged price-fixing by retailers.

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The grocery sector group CBL argued that while farmers are now receiving 30% less for their cattle, the wholesale price had only dropped by 3%. Furthermore, this wholesale price amounts to only 40% of the price beef fetches in retail outlets.


Brinkhorst believes that consumers are not benefiting from the fact that the price of beef has plummeted since the beginning of the BSE crisis.

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