In Germany, the far left wants to cap the price of “doner kebabs”

Symbol of Turkish immigration, the doner kebab, this pita bread garnished with grilled meat, salad and spicy sauce, is one of the most popular fast foods in Germany. Known as an accessible and inexpensive dish, its price has increased significantly in recent years: while you could find doners for €3.50 a few years ago, its average price currently stands at 6 euros, according to the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. In some cities, the doner kebab can even cost up to 10 euros, reports the daily Bild.

To deal with this phenomenon, the far-left German party “Die Linke” launched a proposal in a document consulted by several German media such as the newspapers Bild, Berliner Zeitung and Stern: establishing a price cap on doners (Dönerpreisbremse en German, Editor’s note).

This proposal was made by committee member and party youth spokesperson Kathi Gebel. According to the Linke document, the döner should be capped at €4.90. It should even be reduced to €2.90 for young people. Additional costs should be borne by the state. The party also explains that capping the price of doner would help both consumers and owners of doner kebabs. The Linke calculation is clear: as nearly 1.3 billion döners are consumed per year, the price cap will cost almost four billion, if the state subsidizes each döner by three euros.

In addition to the price cap, Die Linke also offers a voucher per week, with which you could buy a doner kebab for 5 euros. “Döner kebabs can use the vouchers and have the surplus reimbursed by the State via the normal price,” they suggest.

The main motivation of the far-left party: the fight against poverty and food insecurity in Germany. “Food companies have increased their profits at our expense,” reports the Berliner Zeitung, reporting the comments of Die Linke.

Young people have already called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to reduce the price of doner in TikTok videos. The German Chancellor also responded to these demands in a video on his Instagram account on March 11, explaining that there would be no price cap on “döner kebabs”. He notably stressed that inflation was already starting to fall.

“When young people chant “Olaf, lower the price of doner”, this is not an internet joke, but a very serious cry for help! The state must intervene so that food does not become a luxury product,” Kathi Gebel told Bild.

Die Linke is not the only party to propose capping the prices of doners. This is also the case of the youth movement of the Green party, Grüne Jugend, which has even created flyers and an action kit on this subject. However, according to the German newspaper Stern, the probability of seeing this proposal implemented is “close to zero”.

The idea is not unanimous, even within the left. Former Linke party member Fabio de Masi openly mocked the proposed price cap on doner kebabs on X. “Proposals like [these] are acceptable for satirical parties. But for other parties, they harm the debate on selective price caps, profit taxes and the limitation of economic power,” he says.