The increase in beverage prices divides café professionals and raises widespread controversy among consumer advocates

Agadir 24 | Agadir24

The increase in beverage prices created a division among professionals in the café sector in Morocco. While many cafés in various cities began to increase the prices of drinks by between one and two dirhams, others hesitated to approve this increase.

According to what was reported by various sources, some café owners in various regions of the Kingdom have actually begun, since the morning of Eid al-Fitr, to raise the prices of coffee and soft drinks by between one and two dirhams, under the pretext of alleviating the financial burdens that burden them due to the large fees they pay.

In addition, they complained regarding the high cost of raw materials, most notably coffee, which prompted them to approve the increase that the National University of Cafe and Restaurant Owners disavowed, following it warned that this step was “illegal.”

In response to this issue, Ali Shatoor, President of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Consumer Rights, considered that the agreement made by some café owners to raise the price of coffee “has no legal basis,” noting that this increase “is inconsistent with the law related to freedom of prices.” And competition.”

Storr explained that prices in the free market are regulated by Law 104.12 relating to the freedom of competitive prices, adding that “all anti-competitive agreements, whether raising, reducing or renewing, are illegal and contradict the applicable law.”

The head of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Consumer Rights stressed that “no one has the right to ignore the law and act according to his whims in the state of law and institutions.”

This comes at a time when social networking sites have recently been buzzing with publications stating that the owners of cafés and restaurants in Morocco intend to approve an increase in the prices of drinks, which has sparked widespread dissatisfaction among the patrons of these spaces, while the National League of Café and Restaurant Owners in Morocco has previously sounded the alarm regarding the danger. Bankruptcy threatens many cafes in a number of cities in the Kingdom.