Most Bulgarians serve lamb meat or lamb meals at their Easter table. However, are they going to be able to buy lamb and at what price?

Bulgarian farmers will be able to meet market demand, contends Simeon Karakolev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Sheep and Goat Breeding Association. “The good news is that most lambs are bought directly from the farms, because customers and producers benefit from the short supply chains”, Simeon Karakolev noted.

Krasimir Burmov, who breeds 900 sheep in his farm and has 500 lambs, is not that optimistic:

“There are no animals in Bulgaria- Krasimir Burmov contends. - In recent years, the government engaged in empty talk about priorities and financial assistance. In the past, there were 11 to 12 million sheep in Bulgaria, whereas now there are only half a million sheep. In other words, it will be difficult to meet the domestic demand and the rest of the meat should come from abroad. Bulgaria is able to produce only 150 to 200 grams of lamb meat per capita, which is ridiculous.”

Price of lamb meat should increase with 50%. Bulgarian farmers will be able to survive, if a kilogram of lamb meat costs between EUR 11 and EUR 12.50, contends Krasimir Burmov. However, one of the large retail chains has started to import huge quantities of cheap lamb from North Macedonia.

„Firstly, there is no excise duty on the imports of lamb meat- Simeon Karakolev explains. Moreover, animals in North Macedonia still eat animal carcass flour instead of expensive fodder, while in Bulgaria and the other EU countries this is impossible. It turns out that the efforts of Bulgarian farmers will go in vain, because a large retailer, which is expected to make a profit to the tune of EUR 200,000, sells lamb at lower prices. That is why I called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to give the same amount of money to the retail chain, in order to avoid such dramas in the future. Let us not forget that there is a war not far from Bulgaria and food security has been recently on the agenda.”

The quality of lamb depends on the health mark on the raw meat. A blue health mark means that the product is produced in Bulgaria and the red health mark indicates that the meat was produced abroad.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency monitors the imports and supply of lamb meat, Simeon Karakolev reminds.

“Those who are not able to go to a Bulgarian village or a sheep farm find themselves in a dilemma whether to buy Bulgarian meat or imported lamb which is EUR 1.50 to EUR 2 cheaper. Consumers should choose Bulgarian products. Thus, they support local producers. They must not forget that the blue health mark indicates that Bulgaria is the meat’s country of origin.”

Compiled by: Diana Tsankova (interviews by Veselina Milanova, BNR-Horizont)

English version: Kostadin Atanasov