Greece's Independent Authority for Market Surveillance and Consumer Protection has completed more than 300 market inspections ahead of Orthodox Easter, reporting that lamb prices are broadly in line with last year despite persistent cost-of-living pressures.
According to the authority's Holy Thursday data, lamb is retailing at between 11.49 and 11.90 euros per kilogram at supermarkets, which account for more than 98 percent of the market by weighted volume.
At large wholesale markets including the central Varvakeios market in Athens, prices start from 8.99 euros per kilogram.
The authority, known by its Greek acronym IAMEK, said it is conducting daily monitoring of price trends and product availability across lamb and goat meat ahead of the holiday, when demand peaks sharply as millions of Greek families prepare for the traditional Easter Sunday spit-roast.
Inspectors will intensify their presence at key market points over Good Friday and Holy Saturday — the two days of heaviest commercial activity — when the authority said a clearer picture of final market pricing will emerge.
Neighborhood butcher shops are reporting sufficient stock and competitive pricing, giving consumers alternatives to supermarket and wholesale channels.
The crackdown on potential price gouging comes as the government has made combating profiteering a visible political priority ahead of Easter, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis specifically citing supermarket and fuel price oversight in his weekly address earlier this week.
A separate independent authority is currently auditing more than 100 large food companies for excess profit margins.