Lukewarm Initial Reactions to e-Kalathi – Launched After Two Years
Cyprus’s e-Kalathi app debuts with limited offerings and faces criticism for lacking transparency and practical value.
After more than two years of postponements, technical challenges, and bureaucratic delays by the responsible Ministry, Cyprus’s much-anticipated e-Kalathi platform was officially launched yesterday. However, initial reactions from consumers—the primary users of the tool—have been lukewarm.
According to Marios Drousiotis, President of the Cyprus Consumers Association, the platform has value but ultimately fails to meet expectations. Speaking on state radio Thursday morning, he emphasized that while the initial plan called for around 3,000 products, the app currently features only 478 items.
As Drousiotis explained, this limited product range means that users receive information for only about 10% of the products they are interested in. This significantly reduces the app’s practical utility and calls into question its effectiveness in helping households tackle rising prices.
Loukis Aristodimou, President of the Consumers and Quality of Life Association, went a step further, suggesting that the current “basket” reflects specific interests rather than the real needs of the market.
He criticized the lack of consultation with organized consumer groups during the app’s development and highlighted the narrow range of options currently available. According to Aristodimou, this undermines any meaningful impact the platform might have had on addressing the cost-of-living crisis.
Andreas Chatzihadamou, Executive Secretary of the Pancyprian Supermarkets Association, echoed concerns about the platform’s limited utility. Also speaking to state radio, he pointed out the difficulty of integrating more products into the app and stated that supermarkets don’t expect much benefit from its operation.
He noted that supermarkets have long provided consumers with pricing and promotional information via their own flyers and digital channels. From this perspective, e-Kalathi offers nothing substantially new.
Chatzihadamou also reiterated the Association’s position that the platform represents a direct interference in the market and expressed surprise at the change in stance by the Competition Protection Commission. He questioned why bakeries and kiosks, which also play a significant role in daily consumer habits, were not included in the app’s coverage.
