Crowds greet "watermelon" protest at Budapest hypermarket

People queued in front of the Auchan hypermarket in Budapest next to the the M5 motorway yesterday in expectation of free watermelons from farmers, who poured them out onto the car park in protest against low prices. However, most of the fruit smashed open.

Demonstration organiser Socialist MP József Karsai and protesting farmers arrived with 15 tons of melons.

Auchan announced in a press release that due to the protest it will raise its retail price of watermelons from Ft 49 per kg to Ft 65. Auchan has made a gesture to the farmers by increasing its price, spokeswoman Katalin Gillemot commented.

Advertising experts point out that the demonstration helps Auchan to send the message that it is low-priced, while farmers failed to show that they have been driven to bankruptcy, Napi Gazdaság writes.

Farmers and Auchan have agreed to talk on Thursday afternoon.

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