Price Transparency Along the Food Value Chain

This report compiles information sources that provide an insight into the value chain of agricultural goods and food. The situation in Austria is examined in great detail and it is established that there is very good information on the prices of agricultural goods and also the prices at which households buy goods. However, the information is often only publicly accessible in edited form as an index. The prices at which goods are traded at various levels of the value chain are only known for a few products and are not very representative of consumer behavior in Austria. In most EU countries, the situation is no better than in Austria. In France, on the other hand, a differentiated monitoring system has long been established. This approach is presented in detail. Finally, based on the research, a concept is proposed that should contribute to improving transparency in the value chain. Different approaches are developed, depending on whether companies or prices of goods are involved. The proposed solutions are based on existing instruments in order to minimize the effort required to improve price transparency.