The rising cost of doner kebabs has led to growing calls in Germany for a government subsidy program to keep the inflation-hit dish, one of the country’s favourites, affordable, as politicians say it is often cited as a concern in conversations with voters.
The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has become so used to being asked about the price of kebabs during public appearances that his government even posted on social media the explanation for the price increase being partly due to rising wages and energy costs.
“It’s quite surprising that everywhere I go, especially from young people, I’m asked if there shouldn’t be a price brake for the donor,” said Scholz, according to The Guardian, quoted by Newsweek.ro.
The far-left party Die Linke has become the latest to address the issue, calling for a price cap to be introduced in a proposal it wants to present to parliament. Dönerpreisbremse or doner kebab, similar to that introduced in some parts to control high rents. Kebabs are said to already cost €10 (£8.60) in some cities, up from €4 just two years ago.
The party recommends a price cap of €4.90 and €2.90 for young people, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, for which they argue the dish – thinly sliced grilled meat topped with finely chopped vegetables, sauce garlic or chilli and put in a folded bread – it’s a daily staple. It suggests that every household could receive daily vouchers for this dish.
Sales of the kebab – introduced to Germany by Turkish immigrants who adapted it for local tastes – amount to around 7 billion euros a year in Germany.
Based on the estimated 1.3 billion donors who are consumed in the country each year – 400,000 per day in Berlin alone – such a subsidy program would cost €4 billion annually, Die Linke calculated.
Deniz, a doner seller at a kiosk near Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse train station, where the cost has risen from €3.90 to €7 in just two years, said he can’t see the price going down anytime soon.
“We were forced to increase the price, because of the explosion in rent, energy and food prices,” he said. “People talk to us all the time about “Dönerflation”, as if we guessed them, but it is completely out of our control”.
