Is inflation on the turn?
 

I did a 'big shop' in Mercadona this morning and unlike them (never been big discounters meaning you don't need a degree in economics unlike Carrefour who must deserve an award for designing some of the most complicated deals known to man and woman) they actually have some price reductions notably on meat, fruit and veg...OK not massive but every little helps as they say...

Question. Out of the central EU countries where do you think would be the most expensive to buy food? I would probably have answered the country this BBC/Oxford Economics survey says is the cheapest!

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65833619

Happy shopping.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I noticed this morning in Mercadona that cooked langostinos were down in price by €0.55 per kg. The frozen salmon fillets I buy had gone up to €6.35 (a hell of an increase from what they used to be) and are now €6.20, a move in the right direction but still a lot more expensive than before (however the price in Lidl per kg was exactly the same, I haven't been in there recently to see if theirs are a bit cheaper now as well). Sunflower oil was down to €1.75 this morning from €1.85 and their own brand mayonnaise is now €1.25 down from €1.35. Milk and pasta are a few cents cheaper than they were following the reduction in IVA, but not enough to be noticeable. One odd thing is that Heinz baked beans had come down in price from €1.75 to €1.50, but I have given up buying them anyway as I found another brand I preferred (Branston). The price of olive oil, however, continues to go up and up, mainly due to poor harvests because of the drought and there is no sign of that changing any time soon. Fruit and vegetables fluctuate in price all the time, but generally the fruterias or the mercadillos are cheaper than the supermarkets.

I've read the reports in the press this week about the French Government having reached an agreement with 75 food companies to bring their prices down as the Government pointed out that the prices of a lot of commodities had come down but prices in the shops were not following suit. Hopefully other Governments will follow their example.

France strong-arms big food companies into cutting prices | Reuters

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Funny we mentioned yesterday after doing some shopping that it seemed a bit better. Last year we visited UK and I was shocked at prices in supermarkets compared to here. After initial shock I did say to the wife that I thought meat prices were better generally in UK. I saw that BBC comparison and to be honest some of the Spanish prices I though seemed high to what we pay. We do tend to shop Mercadona and Lidl to be fair and I suppose it depends what supermarkets were used . Generally though inflation will stabilise rather costs reduce it will be more that costs won't increase as much. Certain things will fluctuate seasonally etc . As for Heinz beans yes they went silly but I believe Heinz products in UK went very high, maybe they are reducing prices as consumers just went elsewhere to buy beans etc. Lynn where do you get the Branston beans? as I prefer them to Heinz.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

From Russells in Torrox Costa, they are €1.10. I had an order delivered from them last week (not just baked beans obviously!) as, not having a car, it is easier for us to wait until we want a fair amount of stuff and get it delivered to the door. What I used to get from Morrisons in Gibraltar when I would take one of the coach trips run by local organisations, I now get from them and although their prices are a lot higher I would have spent around €50 each time by the time I'd paid for the trip, refreshments en route and lunch in Gib, so it balances out. And I wasn't fond of Gibraltar as a destination for a day out anyway.

When I was in the UK in March I made the mistake of buying a box of 12 Oxo cubes in Tesco, thinking they'd be cheaper than Russells. They cost 2.50 (because I don't have a Clubcard, I hate this dual pricing they are doing now and more and more of the UK supermarkets are doing it) but with a Clubcard would have been 1.90 which is still a lot. Russells were quite a bit cheaper than what I paid, won't be doing that again. When I shop in the UK I find some things cheaper than they are here, and some more expensive.

I find potatoes expensive here. The big sacks in the fruterias are cheap, so no doubt good for a family, but we would never use that many before they were sprouting so we only buy a few at a time.

Ha! The Oxo cubes are 2.40 on the Tesco website now and €2.99 in Russells so maybe I did save a few pennies after all.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I missed them then I was in Russels during the week. We don't get a great deal but I get the odd craving for something now and again. I will look out for the beans next time as I find them much nicer than Heinz. You mention potatoes it always surprises me how some vegetables are quite expensive in Spain and not always a great vegetable choice for our British taste. That said it is Spain lol. Generally I think our shopping bill here in Spain is a good bit less than UK . But it is swings and roundabouts as they say. Thanks for the info

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

£5.40 for a bl00dy pint of Guinness in UK, £3 or €3.50 give or take in Spain.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

To be honest I think the main reason why our food shopping bill is less here in Spain is because there is less in the shops by way of good quality ready meals (which are always a lot more expensive than cooking from scratch), prepared salads, decent cakes, etc. to tempt us. From my last trip to the UK I brought back some quiches from M&S which were undoubtedly expensive, but much nicer than anything on offer here (and they froze really well). But I would probably be a lot heavier than I am if I lived there and ate like that all the time!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

That's true re ready meals etc. I get the odd craving for a good pork pie or steak pie.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

A glass of wine is even worse. 6.25 for a 250 ml glass of Spanish Verdejo in Manchester (the cheapest option on the wine list in a pub). I had one in a nice bar in Torre del Mar a few days ago, €1.70 and the measure was at least 250 ml. It only went up from €1.50, which it had been for ages, at Easter this year. We took my husband's children and their partners there in April and they could not believe how little a round of drinks cost.

There was the occasional good deal in the UK though. One day I had a cream tea consisting of a large sultana scone (served warm) with butter, a mini jar of Tiptree jam and a dish of clotted cream (so much I could only eat half of it) and a pot of tea that easily made two cups - 5.50 which seemed an absolute steal.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Mercadona is one of those "marmite" companies in Spain, and if you want to start an argument in a bar its always an easy starting point! We use them and also Lupa who seem to have much better quality meat counter using local products without going off the scale on price. Mercadonas Arribeño Rueda Verdejo is amazaing value for money!. The main issue for us with Aldi and Lidl if you don´t use them regularly is working out what the brands are this week and taking a punt if it is something you like or don´t like.

Up here, grow your own is the usual thing and most folks dedicate a bit of the land to an allotment. We get a lot from "El Huerto", "El Gallinero" and "El Jardin". We grow all our own potatoes, green beans, runner beans, peas, peppers, onions, leeks, cauliflowers, lettuce and beef tomatoes. There are so many tomatoes that we usually end up spending an afternoon just making tomato cooking sauces and that usually lasts for 12 months. We have ten chickens, and with just two of us, that is a massive overproduction of eggs, so the eggs get involved in a bit of bartering (trueque it's called here) with one of the locals that makes their own chorizo sausage. Our tortilla de patatas really is "casera" even down to the ingredients and oil apart, a zero km product. We have lemon trees, orange trees, kiwis, walnuts and also a lot of kaki (persimmon) fruits. They are way too sweet for my taste, but one of the neighbours usually turns it all into jam and we get half back.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...20c8a9007c.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...80841e2976.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...3f647ef79f.jpg


We don't claim any green credentials, just that it has always been part of the family way of doing things. The only downside as we get older is the iboprufen backgel consumption is on the rise!!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Going to admit to one of the 7 deadly sins - envy!

Marvellous fresh produce - well done you and fresh eggs!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Thank you. I don´t know what we will eventually die of, but pretty sure it won´t be hunger!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

That looks great all be it a lot of hard work but can't beat proper fruit and veg.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

It can be physical, no question, but hey, we don´t need a gym membership! One problem is you get a lot of product in large quantities as you collect it, which is impossible to use. You can see how many potatoes are in a small crop of about 4 square metres. When the beans are in season, it´s easy to fill a 20 litre bucket every day for weeks. Fortunately, there is usually a neighbour who has their own production of something else, so we do swaps with someone that has courgettes, carrots, aubergines etc

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Very Spanish!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Inflation in spain month of May was 3.2%!. That's good compared to most countries.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Yes, Spain is doing very well in comparison to other EU (and UK) countries.

But the news just saying food prices will rise again after the Ukraine dam disaster.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Yep food is 12 % higher than this time last year. Good news is that the government will keep the food discounts on essentials running but after election if PP win they will no doubt scrap every decent economic thing Sanchez has done because they see it as communist policy- and replace it with the usual market economy where everything is fine if you are rich!!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Uy what short memories! Don't forget that in January the INE changed the basket of products for the IPC with the effect that overnight the inflation rate went down about 2% in Spain. If you look at the "inflacion subyacente" on the INE web site then inflation is 6.1% for May

In the UK wage inflation could be doing expats with UK investment opportunities a big favour. There is expected to be another rise in the interest rates on Thursday, and with the pound continuing to strengthen against the euro, it's a good time to have investments there and live here!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Yes, they changed it to include free market tariffs for domestic energy (a year later than they had previously announced they would be doing this).

El INE cambia con un año de retraso cómo mide el precio de la luz y el gas | El Periódico de España (epe.es)

Changing the basket of goods used to calculate the rate of inflation is something the ONS often does in the UK, in fact it is reviewed annually.

Consumer price inflation, updating weights - Office for National Statistics

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I think the point is that Spain has done very well in its fight against inflation compared to other countries and that this helps people who dont have much in life.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

To be honest it's all a joke when you really look at how inflation is measured. Even if inflation in Germany is higher than Spain, this doesn't mean that there are less bargains or ways to save money.
It's often the opposite and supermarkets have inflation offers and people buy different products than they would have bought last year. This means that the products that aren't sold are eventually sold cheaper.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/macroeconomic_and_sectoral/hicp/html/index.en.html
Basket of goods and services

In practice, prices cannot be collected for all of the millions of different goods and services available in the euro area. Sampling is used to derive a representative basket of goods and services to be priced every month. The national statistical institutes are responsible for defining the precise basket by selecting the most representative items for each product category. Therefore, each national HICP will cover bread and cars, but the type of bread and the brand and model of car may differ across countries, reflecting national consumption habits. Nowadays prices can also be obtained directly from retailers using supermarket scanners. However, in these cases the process of obtaining valid and representative price indices can be challenging.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

As Moses says they can't do a simple straightforward comparison. People shop every week or so and tend to purchase a similar basket each time, they notice any increase in what it costs. Governments just tend to play it down and invent reasons for price increase. Personal experience is best measure.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I think so too. It amazes me how little prices in Spain for some things change over the years. My water bills have never changed in the 17 years I have lived here. We have been with the same broadband supplier for at least 10 years and the price has gone up only once, by €1 per month although the speed has increased from the original 30mbps to 300 mbps (no CPI + 3% mid contract price rises here). IBI rarely changes, following a revision of catastral values about 15 years ago mine would have gone up, but the Ayuntamiento came up with a scheme to compensate property owners for 90% of the increase and I got a discount of 40% of the total bill for the next 9 years until I sold the property. Last year the IBI bill went down by 3% and it is due to do the same again this year, should have done next year too but control of the Ayuntamiento has now passed to the PP so who knows. My dentist still charges exactly the same as he did when I first became a patient about 8 years ago.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Totally agree, inflation is a headline number and just a guide that politicians love to use, and when the politicians can change it is as reliable as a chocolate teapot. Personal experience tells you the real story in your own life.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I thought this was quite interesting, although US: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-fr...ure-inflation/
The BLS uses a survey of American families called the Consumer Expenditures Survey to determine which items go in the basket and how much weight to assign to each item. Different prices are weighted according to how important they are to the average consumer. For instance, Americans spend more on chicken than tofu, so changes in the price of chicken have a greater impact on the CPI.

So chicken hos a greater weight in the US than Tofu, but would be interesting to know what has a greater weight in Spain. I could only find main categories
https://www.euro-area-statistics.org...b.html?lang=en
Countries also have different general income levels. This may have an indirect impact on inflation through different consumption patterns. In some countries, for example, a higher percentage of spending is for food, which tends to have higher inflation rates. This then leads to an overall higher inflation rate in those countries, as food has a high “weight” in their shopping baskets.

As you say, personal experience is better than anything else.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

This report from 2021 makes it clear that the INE does use relative weightings in their calculation of the inflation rate.

Principales características del IPC base 2021 (ine.es)

In all countries people have a "personal inflation rate" which is what they base their perception of inflation on. Increases in the essentials such as food and utility bills always impact the poorest the most, because they spend a greater proportion of their income on those.

Las desigualdades en el impacto de la inflación en 2022, compensadas por la electricidad - Center for Economic Policy - EsadeEcPol

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Yes, but it doesn't show how the weighting affects the rates and what is actually in the basket.
As a result of these adjustments, the base 2021 CPI shopping basket now consists of
955 items (of which 462 are traditionally collected and the rest are collected by means of
scanner data), compared to 977 in the previous base (with 480 items collected traditionally).
https://www.euro-area-statistics.org...b.html?lang=en
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...8cac042891.jpg

Vs, Germany as an example:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...979bac7a6c.jpg

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I noticed this morning in Mercadona that there has been another big increase in the price of olive oil - undoubtedly due to the drought and poor harvests. Virgin olive oil is now €7.70 a litre and extra virgin €8.50. The extra virgin was €6.60 last time we bought some, about 2 weeks ago, so a big jump. Lots of other things will be increasing as well because of weather conditions both in Spain and further afield.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Yes, Lynn the price of olive oil has gone crazy - so I was delighted this morning when a quality bottle of olive oil (and not a horrible little plastic box) was placed on the table this morning with my tostada con tomate in the club Nautico in Villajoyosa this morning. Pity none of the boats moored in the little marina are mine!

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I just looked at the link to food items in Europe, where in the UK did they shop, Fortnum & Masons food hall? Lot of those prices are way off the prices you pay, way too high for some of the items.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

And exactly the same can be said of some of the prices quoted for items bought in Spain - I pay much less for mayonnaise and toothpaste than the prices quoted. Most probably the same applies to all the other countries in the list as well.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I think your right.

I only spend around three months of the year in Spain these days and I do all the food shopping and cooking in the UK and Spain and overall the UK is cheaper than Spain. Some things are cheaper in Spain certainly seasonal/local fruit and veg but other things like meat tends to be more expensive and the quality of supermarket meat is not overall as good as the UK. UK supermarkets tend to carry a wider range of international foods too, certainly a lot more Asian food options for instance.

As a part timer to Spain I've seen all prices going up and up, Spain is no longer the cheap destination it was (nowhere is really) unless your a chain smoking alcoholic then its cheap ;(

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

another view
https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/08/2...ce-comparison/

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

In that list, these foods are particularly British and are expensive in Spain:

• Cheddar Cheese (Mature) – 300g
• Instant Coffee – 200g
• Tomato Ketchup – 500g

And vice-versa:

• Olive Oil – 1L

Also, some foods have to be swapped for something else in Spain:

• Large Sliced Loaf - In Spain it should be replaced with baguette or barra.
• Semi-Skimmed Milk – 1L - In Spain it would have to be UHT milk instead of fresh.
• Beer (Cans) – Four pack - I don't care what the price difference is, this gets swapped for 1906 in Spain. :)

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Because I've too much time on my hands I just put the list in the link which quoted Tesco coming in at £52.02 into an online Tesco list, came in at £43.40. Do they just make the numbers up?

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Comparing Aldi UK with Aldi Spain is comparing 2 different stores. They are separate entities . I believe the Aldi serving Spain is Aldi North and same Aldi one gets in Germany. I believe Aldi UK is Aldi Sur and is southern Germany Austria or similar. They have different emblems . I seem to remember reading they were 1 company but split many years ago over 2 brothers arguing over selling cigarettes. So each formed different companies one sold cigarettes the other didn't. I believe that's why Aldi in Spain seems quite German orientated in products as same company serves Germany. Just something I read long ago.

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

Looks like a survey of food prices written by a intern. ;)

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

But the news just saying food prices will rise again after the Ukraine dam disaster.[/QUOTE]

Hi I have just hopped over from the Portugal side
Two of the main factors in inflation is 1 cereal prices and 2 oil prices
The price of cereals doubled from around £170 / ton in March 2022 to £340 by the end of may 2022 due to the Ukraine war.
All cereal products rose along with products produced by cereal consuming animals, milk eggs etc. There is a time lag between the two prices and when the cereal prices dropped later on in 2022 the supermarket prices started to fall in early 2023.
The above mentioned dam should result in a big increase in prices but it hasnt happened and I am a bit worried why it hasnt.
(P.S. awesome pictures of fruit and veg rbs)

Re: Is inflation on the turn?
 

I haven't been to Spain since March, but one thing I have noticed in Ireland is that cereal prices increased a lot and are now dropping again.
The reason might be that people just stopped buying them and now there is an oversupply. Every now and then I do buy Special K and when shops were charging €5 here, I just stopped buying. This week the 500g box is €2.57 at Lidl, so a bought again.