MOSCOW – For the second time this month, Vladimir Putin has stood up for the common man, at a carefully staged media event.

Rising food prices - a key factor of high inflation - have emerged as a major source of concern for his government, as many Russians identify high food prices as the biggest issue facing them.

So the Russian prime minister broke off a meeting to drag retail executives and Cabinet ministers to a Moscow supermarket, where he chastised the managers for large markups on meat.

Television cameras, food producers and beleaguered supermarket managers trailed after Putin as he marched around the Perekryostok supermarket Wednesday evening, pointing at food products, questioning employees and dressing them down.

"Why do your sausages cost 240 rubles ($7.50)? Do you call that normal?" Putin asked.

"But they're good quality sausages," replied Yuri Koboladze, managing director for corporate relations at X5 Retail Group, which owns the large midmarket chain. "See these ones, they're just 49 rubles!"

Looking unimpressed, Putin moved on to the pork counter, where he railed against Koboladze for pork that sold for more than double the wholesale price.

"We'll put the prices down tomorrow," Koboladze said.

The stunt followed a series of populist moves aimed at addressing social discontent during an economic crisis that has led to mass job losses and factory shutdowns.

Earlier this month, Putin staged a humiliating dressing down of Oleg Deripaska, once Russia's richest man, for failing to pay workers at one of his factories, which had been shut down. In a televised meeting, Putin threw a pen at the oligarch and ordered him to sign a contract restarting supplies to the plant.