Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Don't buy this very often, but went to our local butcher (in a Supermarket).

Mince 380 lira a kilo !!!! I said to the Butcher that is crazy for meat offcuts that are minced. He agreed and said next week it will be 400 lira a kilo.

He said the price was set by the government..

This is not down to the Lira, he said Mince a year ago was 90 lira a Kilo with the lira at 19.1 to £, now its 380 lira with the lira a 24.2 to £.

So we can see all these prices increases are down to profiteering, shame on you Mr. Bye Bye (I think that's his name)

380 seems cheap, sure when I went to Lemar it was even more!!!!

South Cyp Prices: Halal beef mince - 180tl per kg or non halal like 100tl per kg

The quality of beef and lamb is substandard, not hung and tasteless yet charge outrageous prices!

PS; Hur Deniz, Girne supermarket stock a limited range of pork charcuterie products and small pork roast joints/chops etc however, skinless so no cracking but has taste!

I now buy from the Kibet counter at Şah that way I can see the price.

Bought at 280tl a kilo from supermarket East of Girne today.

Hair cut - I think that you need to shop around!

Keithcaley wrote: ↑

Thu 13 Apr 2023 8:52 pm

Hair cut - I think that you need to shop around!

As my original post says, I was told the price was government set...

Hair Cut wrote: ↑

Fri 14 Apr 2023 4:46 am

As my original post says, I was told the price was government set...

... and jayceebee said:

Bought at 280tl a kilo from supermarket East of Girne today.

With the substantial difference in price, it adds up just to venture south atm.

He said the price was set by the government..

Toros Scatology (Bull Sh!T

Factor in the cost of insurance and petrol and time AFC is it worth it.

Insurance is for a month at 25 euros, its a day out - keeps kids happy, throw in a mall or 2 as well as other shopping, not just meat, so definately worth it.

As an example, I'll go across, get maybe 5kg mince (so saving 1000tl if halal and way more if not) get 5 or 5 kg lamb for the bbq (220tl per kg - halal, 120 per kg if not halal and 460tl per kg here in lemar - so saving at least another 1000 tl, more if not halal)

So just on meat in one trip I've saved over 2,000tl - 95 euro saved on one trip just on meat. Then as I said factor in other shopping, and a day out, why not?

Insurance - 25 euro for a month, and petrol 20euro per trip. go twice a month thats 65euro cost v 190 euro saved just on meat

AFC wrote: ↑

Fri 14 Apr 2023 5:06 pm

Insurance is for a month at 25 euros, its a day out - keeps kids happy, throw in a mall or 2 as well as other shopping, not just meat, so definately worth it.

As an example, I'll go across, get maybe 5kg mince (so saving 1000tl if halal and way more if not) get 5 or 5 kg lamb for the bbq (220tl per kg - halal, 120 per kg if not halal and 460tl per kg here in lemar - so saving at least another 1000 tl, more if not halal)

So just on meat in one trip I've saved over 2,000tl - 95 euro saved on one trip just on meat. Then as I said factor in other shopping, and a day out, why not?

Insurance - 25 euro for a month, and petrol 20euro per trip. go twice a month thats 65euro cost v 190 euro saved just on meat

to be correct: the import of meat (and cheese and and and..) even for private use is not permitted.
and, of course... the meat prices in TRNC are the reason why recently, not for the first time, 190 kilo have been confiscated at one of the green line crossings, transported in a private car (mercedes) , not in a freezer van.
it seems, more is on the way... who are the buyers of this meat?
bon appetite.

Anybody know the nearest place on the Greek side to the ledra crossing you can buy meat ? This has to be an option to avoid insurance and just walk across.

We often buy in sah to .. I don't think this is the cheapest place to buy meat but it's in packs ready of c 100 tl

8 bought some mince yesterday 266 tl.from.unimar iskele your being told baloney about fixed price mince meat ...nobody here has been arrested ...

If your paying that much you.might as well.buy fillet steak which is still.half the price than the Greek side and the UK ...some swings and roundabouts here

Article about rising meat prices https://www.yeniduzen.com/etin-tadi-kacti-162865h.htm

So glad I am vegetarian, wish my dog was too!

Reyntj wrote: ↑

Sun 16 Apr 2023 7:21 am

Anybody know the nearest place on the Greek side to the ledra crossing you can buy meat ? This has to be an option to avoid insurance and just walk across.

We often buy in sah to .. I don't think this is the cheapest place to buy meat but it's in packs ready of c 100 tl

8 bought some mince yesterday 266 tl.from.unimar iskele your being told baloney about fixed price mince meat ...nobody here has been arrested ...

If your paying that much you.might as well.buy fillet steak which is still.half the price than the Greek side and the UK ...some swings and roundabouts here

You have both Arab for halal and non arab butchers/ supermarkets there, and a great Lebense place that does a fantatic kebab - sham foods! They have 2 or 3 shops, the main one in the square iis the one!

Just buy beef and ask butcher to mince it

Perks wrote: ↑

Sun 16 Apr 2023 3:51 pm

Just buy beef and ask butcher to mince it

It's still 380lira a Kilo, minced or not !!!

Just bought mince at Ileli at 335.90 a kilo. It was off a joint and was minced in front of me.

Expensive have to say

Is anybody coming from the UK soon can I have 10 kg of mince please Waitrose essential

£5 kg ..c 120 tl..

It's almost 1/3 rd the price ...some profiteering going on here with many in such low income it doesn't stack up.

We have just returned from Lidl on the South side, yes I know some people dont shop there, we bought beef mince 0.65 kilo 3.77 euros, (80 TL) a bargain, yes we know we have to pay insurance but we do a large shop.

Mollie the cat wrote: ↑

Tue 18 Apr 2023 9:11 am

We have just returned from Lidl on the South side, yes I know some people dont shop there, we bought beef mince 0.65 kilo 3.77 euros, (80 TL) a bargain, yes we know we have to pay insurance but we do a large shop.

So we are being ripped off....

Hi, Karen here Our beef steak mince is 315 tl a kilo, you can get cheaper beef mince, shin for example, which is a little cheaper if prepped but a fair bit cheaper if it isn`t prepped and the sinews etc are left in - which is fine actually for slow cooking or pressure cooking.

Butchers are often cheaper than the supermarkets when comparing like for like (not going to get into another debate about the price of Richmonds frozen sausages versus our hand made linked sausages but we don`t have the captive market that the supermarkets have, the convenience of the one stop shop for everything and so it tends to go unnoticed (by us also as we obviously don`t shop for meat in the supermarkets ).

The government set the prices for the feed/fodder of livestock and when that goes up, the price of stock goes up - this is probably where the comment about the government setting the prices originates. There are also government farms, where every three months or so farmers and butchers can bid to purchase their stock. I understand this is more of a bid/auction than a set price though.

I don`t think people are being ripped off here on prices, not on the basis of just comparison to the South. South is an entirely different market, they can import and so the effects of supply and demand on the market prices are diluted there, and when you can import you aren`t buying whole animals, you can buy the cuts you will sell, so less wastage and risk, also butchers can tailor their purchases specifically for their individual market. (They don`t have the currency issues we have here on imports either) So, we here are all old style butchers, there are no "out of the box butchers", Yusuf spends at least one day a week with his feet in the fields on the farms purchasing. I think the only beef that can be imported is the likes of frozen ready cut steaks. So its still a skilled trade here, a dying one in the UK because its so difficult to compete with the supermarkets, their one-stop shopping experience and "out of the box" cuts and their vast array of other stock, as well as the competitive loss leaders to get the captive audience through the door. We can only really set out our stall on quality and customer service, which is pretty much the way of all small business.

I`m not seeking to defend prices, the market here is what it is and its not an easy one across the whole chain, from farm to plate, whether that be the kitchen table or the restaurant. Its the country we live in though.

Ozankoy Best Butcher wrote: ↑

Thu 20 Apr 2023 7:09 am

Hi, Karen here Our beef steak mince is 315 tl a kilo

So that has increased from 305tl last week?

techtrader wrote: ↑

Thu 20 Apr 2023 7:17 am

Ozankoy Best Butcher wrote: ↑

Thu 20 Apr 2023 7:09 am

Hi, Karen here Our beef steak mince is 315 tl a kilo

So that has increased from 305tl last week?

Yes, the price at the farm level increases week in and week out. We don`t increase the prices week in and week out, we weather it while we can. Its a supply and demand issue, its not unusual for example for us to agree a price on an animal only to go to collect and find that its been sold to someone else later that day who offered a couple of lira more.

Thank you to Ozankoy Best Butchers for the detailed explanation.

Much appreciated and has certainly helped to understand a little more the constraints and difficulties of trying to run a business here in the TRNC, make a profit whilst at the same time keep your customers happy.

We will be in next week to collect some meat!

Thanks Karen, that's a really good insight