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Retail multinationals accused of selling lower quality products in Hungary

February 27th, 2017

A pro-government columnist finds it outrageous that some products sold in Hungary are of a lower quality than the same goods sold in western Europe. His colleague agrees that Hungarians should buy Hungarian-made products – provided their quality is good.

The Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Office published a comparative report on 24 products sold in Hungary. The report found that some of the same merchandise sold in Hungary are of worse quality than the same products sold in Austria. In Slovakia, the Ministry of Agriculture published a similar survey with the same conclusion.

Magyar Idők’s Ottó Gajdics finds it outrageous that Hungarian consumers are sold lower quality products. The pro-government columnist considers it a shame that those EU authorities which normally like to standardize and regulate everything do not seem to be bothered by the difference in the quality of merchandise sold under the same name. Gajdics wonders how the EU would react if the governments of Central European countries banned lower quality goods. As such a step would most likely provoke harsh measures from the EU, customers need to make more conscious choices and buy Hungarian products, Gajdics recommends.

In Magyar Nemzet, Zsombor György recalls that the media has long reported about the difference in the quality of goods sold in western Europe and in Hungary. The independent conservative columnist agrees in principle with the suggestion that Hungarians should buy Hungarian products, but notes that Hungarian goods are often not any better than foreign products. Quite the contrary, Hungarian retail chains and producers often have far lower standards than multinational companies and supermarkets, György contends.

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