The German far left wants to pass a law that would cap the price of kebabs, the price of which has almost doubled over the past two years. Several times questioned on the subject by young Germans, Chancellor Olaf Scholz rules out any state intervention to subsidize the country’s most popular sandwich.
The price of doner kebab, a major national cause in Germany? For more than a year, the price of the famous meat sandwich of Turkish origin has become an obsession across the Rhine.
“When will the kebab cost 3 euros again?”, read Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Instagram last March, answering questions from internet users.
“It is quite striking that everywhere I go, mainly from young people, I am asked if there should not be a freeze on the prices of donër,” confided Olaf Scholz.
On the official German government account, an infographic was even posted in February 2023 to explain why the price of the sandwich had increased and what the state was doing to limit inflation.
A communication exercise which seems not to have convinced since the questions are always more present. Sold for less than 4 euros on average two years ago, kebabs are now offered at 7 euros or even around 10 euros in certain large cities.
But the sandwich is an institution across the Rhine, much more so than in France. The Germans consume 1.3 billion each year compared to 350 million here. Sales of kebabs amount to more than 7 billion euros.
A few days ago, the far-left opposition party to the government, Die Linke, took up the subject and announced that it was going to table a bill to put in place a price cap on doner kebab. The party therefore proposes to limit prices to 4.90 euros and even 2.90 euros for young people. The difference between the current selling price and the ceiling price would be subsidized by the State for an amount estimated by Die Linke at 4 billion euros per year.
“Talk to Putin”
Even German environmentalists who generally campaign to limit meat consumption seem concerned about the subject.
“For young people, it is currently as important a question as where they will move when they leave home,” Green MP Hanna Steinmueller told Parliament last February. “I know it is not a daily problem for a lot of people here and it’s also something that could be ridiculed, but I think as representatives of the voters we are obliged to talk about these topics.”
Questioned by a young German of Turkish origin who asked him to “talk to Putin so that the kebab comes back to 4 euros”, Olaf Scholz has for the moment ruled out any cap on this dish. The Chancellor recalled that it was impossible in a market economy to control the prices of food products. The head of government assures that it is by controlling inflation in energy and food that kebab prices will become painless again.
On social networks, Germans evoke their nostalgia for the days of Angela Merkel (often photographed cutting meat) when kebabs still cost 3 euros. Some Internet users are even calling for the return of “Mutti” to curb prices.
The ex-chancellor who increased Germany’s dependence on Russian gas is nevertheless considered largely responsible for the surge in prices across the Rhine which followed the war in Ukraine. Maybe the Germans aren’t so resentful.
