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Costly Kebabs

Europe's Döner Prices to Soar

Prices for food staples are going up around the world. Now Germany's favorite fast food is under threat, with döner kebab prices set to soar by up to 30 percent.

The recent crisis in the price of staple foods has led to riots in Haiti, Egypt, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Now it may rock the streets of Europe -- in the form of higher prices for döner kebabs, the continent's answer to Greek "gyro" sandwiches or Indian take-away.

Yunus Altinsoy, head of the European Döner Chamber of Commerce (EUDK), said prices would rise by about 30 percent because of the rising price of beef from Argentina and Brazil, according to the European edition of the Turkish daily Hürriyet.

Right now a döner sandwich costs between €2.80 ($4.30) and €3.50 ($5.50). The meal is a typically Turkish import that has served for years as a late-night snack for German clubgoers and students and is now popular throughout Europe. The meat -- normally a blend of processed lamb or veal, spices and other ingredients -- is carved from a spit and wrapped in pita bread with salad and sauce.

Crisis in Argentina

The price of Argentine beef in particular has risen recently as Buenos Aires fights to control inflation. Last week the nation's economy minister, Martin Lousteau, resigned after a revolt by farmers over a tax increase.

Remzi Kaplan, head of the Berlin-based Kaplan Döner -- which claims to be the largest döner producer in Europe -- says merchants don't have to buy South American meat. But the crisis is having a spill-over effect. "Some producers who used to buy Argentine meat are now turning to the same sellers we buy from," he said. "That's pushing up the price."

In 2006 a scandal over spoiled frozen meat used for cheap meals like döner kebabs echoed through the European Union after a meat wholesaler in Munich was accused of falsifying expiration dates by up to four years. The 74-year-old businessman killed himself over the scandal.

The döner business, nevertheless, is brisk. The Europe Turkish Döner Producers Union (ATDID) estimates that around 300 tons of döner meat is produced per day in Germany and offered in around 15,000 shops. The German döner trade employs about 45,000 people and has a turnover of about €2.3 billion per year.

msm/spiegel