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Ramadan discounts in UAE: Supermarkets offer 10,000 products in 50% bargain
Other offers announced during the holy month include 65% discounts for 5,500 products by one top retailer
- PUBLISHED: Tue 25 Feb 2025, 2:20 PM
Around 644 major supermarkets in the UAE announced over 50 per cent discounts for 10,000 products during Ramadan, with one co-op announcing discounts worth Dh35 million, the Ministry of Economy said on Tuesday.
Other offers announced during the holy month include 65 per cent discounts for 5,500 products at Lulu Hypermarket, which has over 600 branches across the emirates.
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Another co-op announced discounts worth 60 per cent for more than 5,000 products, said Sultan Darwish, Director of Consumer Protection and Commercial Control, at the ministry.
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There has been an influx of food items to UAE markets during the past few months, with daily imports at Al Aweer Fruits and Vegetables Market in Dubai reaching 15,000 tonnes, and 6,000 tonnes by Abu Dhabi traders. “This reflects a keenness in securing a sufficient food reserve at local markets, to ensure supply meets demand during high-peak months like Ramadan,” Darwish pointed out.
The ministry is keen on ensuring supermarkets do not raise the set prices of the nine basic products announced recently and will be conducting 420 inspection visits during the holy month. In December last year, the ministry said retailers are not allowed to increase prices of nine basic consumer product without prior approval. The products include cooking oils, eggs, dairy, rice, sugar, poultry, legumes, bread and wheat.
Additional inspections
Additionally, the ministry has also coordinated with local consumer protection authorities in each emirate to carry out additional inspections and market observation. During the first two months of this year, the ministry carried out 768 inspection campaigns.
In 2024, the ministry’s inspectors conducted 80,249 surprise visits across various kinds of outlets throughout the year, which resulted in 8,388 violations for several violations, including fake spare parts at car showrooms, for instance.
Darwish said inspections are not limited to physical visits. “We are constantly monitoring the market through our online platforms and consumer protection WhatsApp group.”
Ministry e-linked to major outlets
The ministry is e-linked with 14 major outlets across the UAE to flag any price changes related to the basic products.
“We identified the major consumer outlets across the UAE, like the co-ops, Spinneys, Carrefour, Lulu, Al Safeer, KM, Maya Supermarket… whose sales constitute over 80% of purchased products by consumers across the UAE,” he explained.
“If they change the price of any basic product, it would be automatically flagged. The system shows a red flag when the price tag exceeds the permissible limit, and this not only applies to the Ministry, it has also been linked across all local economic authorities. So, in addition to physical inspection visits, we observe those 14 major outlets online.”
“You will be surprised at how quick we communicate on the local and federal level between observation and consumer protection officials. Any information we receive, it is spread to all concerned parties in less than a second via What’s App. We don’t wait to send emails.”
Darwish urged consumers to report any tampering they observe with price tags at supermarkets, as well as any quality issues they witness, through the toll-free number 8001222, or its social media platforms. Last year, the ministry received 1,891 consumer complaints electronically, out of which 93% were resolved timelessly.
