In Greece, the price of lentils and other legumes has skyrocketed by the time they reach supermarket shelves, despite being sold at very low prices to consumers at the farm. Lentils costing €0.65 per kilo at the farm are now priced around €5.50 per kilo in stores, highlighting the growing gap between producers and retail prices.Layers of Costs Drive Prices Up Industry experts say multiple stages of handling contribute to the steep increase. These include harvesting, transport, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, and the profit margins of both intermediaries and retail outlets. Apostolos Raftopoulos, President of the Union of Consumer Workers of Greece, criticized the situation as "exploitation and profiteering at the expense of consumers." Producers Struggling to Maintain Low Prices Thomas Manos, Secretary General of the National Interprofessional Organization of Legumes, explained that producers have absorbed rising costs...