Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 16.1.2008

Consumers come back in specialized shops

This year's results of the most annual investigation of development of purchase preferences of Czech households SHOPPING MONITOR 2008 of companies INCOMA Research and GfK Praha show that large-scale shops (hypermarkets, discounts and supermarkets) as a whole constantly strengthen its position on the market but lose customers in delicate categories of goods. Large-scale shops remain the main place to purchase such categories as packaged foods, beverages and so on. However, in purchasing of fresh food (bread, meat etc.) or more specialized assortment of drug-stores goods and cosmetics, customers prefer still more often special shops.

Antarctic loses ice in record pace

Melting in west part of the Antarctic has speeded in recent years in unusual pace. The newest study drawn up at a university in British Bristol stated it. The report based on monitoring realized by European, Canadian and American satellites as well as subsequent measuring confirms that it is owing to progressive global warming of the Earth. Million tons of ice melt in the Antarctic and subsequently glaciers wander in a sea in far distances. Scientists who monitor 85 percents of the Antarctic cost claim that ice releases in two parts of the continent. The west cost lost 132 billion tons of ice in 2006 compared to only 83 billion tons in 1996. The Antarctic peninsula which projects towards the South American cost lost sixty billion tons of ice in 2006.

Prices of agricultural producers broke records

At average over the whole last year, according to data of the Czech Statistic Office, in comparison with the last year prices of agricultural producers were by 16,5 percents higher; prices of industrial producers by 4,1 percents; prices of building work by 3,9 percents; and prices of market services by 1,6 percents. Year-on-year rise in prices of agricultural producers is historically the highest over the monitoring period, i.e. since 1992. Prices of plant products increased by 32,2 % and of animal ones by 1,6 %. Prices of cereals raised by 49 %, of fruit by 22,1 %, of oil plants by 20,4 % and of potatoes by 19,7 %. Prices of milk increased by 4,5 %, of poultry by 10 %, and of eggs by 13,2 %. Prices of pigs decreased by 7,6 % and of slaughter cattle by 2,3 %.

International Year of Potatoes

United Nation General Assembly declared the year 2008 as the International Year of Potatoes. In connection with this marking specialist from the FAO wants to underline an important role of potatoes in fight with starvation in the world-wide scale and to support coordination of research and development aiming at improvement of system of growing of this kind of root-crop.