Croatians boycott shopping to protest high prices [Video]

Supermarket aisles were quiet across Croatia on Friday as consumers protested high food prices by joining a boycott on shopping.

Fanned by social media campaign, Croatians largely stayed away from shops, with daily sales volume down 50 percent from last Friday, the country’s tax administration said in a statement.

The protest, initiated by consumer groups, aimed to pile pressure on retailers they blame for surging inflation.

Only a few customers were in a central Zagreb supermarket at midday that is usually bustling with shoppers at that hour.

“Retailers will not be financially harmed, but this is an important symbolic message that price gouging should stop”, Danko Horvat, a barman from Zagreb who joined the boycott, told AFP.

Consumer groups said they were satisfied with the response.

The boycott shocked retailers, said Josip Kelemen from the “Halo, inspektore” consumer protection group, which called for the protest.

“People feel cheated,” Kelemen said. “Even the well-off have supported us, they feel the …