I honestly think we are heading for a terrible crash sometime this year as people simply can no longer afford to live and then the lot will go off.
They already are, I'm afraid. I was charged £2.10 a couple of weeks back for a loaf at a large independent village convenience store in my area - that was Hovis Seed Sensation 800g; your Hovis Granary is currently on their website @ £2.15.Wonder how long before someone is charging £2.00+ per loaf for this particular product?
Sadly, not too surprising. It does tend to be the items, which you buy more than just occasionally, where you do notice the sudden, sharp price increases.They already are, I'm afraid. I was charged £2.10 a couple of weeks back for a loaf at a large independent village convenience store in my area - that was Hovis Seed Sensation 800g; your Hovis Granary is currently on their website @ £2.15.
Milk is probably a poor example product - at 80p it was almost certainly being sold at a loss given the costs of production, bottling and transport.2 pint milk at Sainsbury's was 80p when I started buying it in September 2020. (A complete rip of compared to a 6 pint bottle for ~£1.65 or so - I'm not sure exactly as it doesn't affect me!) That price was maintained for some time, but over the last few months it's crept up and is now 95p per bottle. A 20% increase. Yes, I know inflation is quite high at the moment, but I don't think it's quite 20%*! (Well, not yet... )
*Yes, I am aware that not all products increase by the same amount.
This is a good point - it could be argued that food prices are not becoming untenable - they were arguably set too low to begin with.Milk is probably a poor example product - at 80p it was almost certainly being sold at a loss given the costs of production, bottling and transport.
Not everyone is the same though and has the same financial muscle. Same as food prices, for many its causing real hard ship now.The same applies to petrol and diesel: despite WFH still being a 'thing' for many office workers, the roads around me are as busy
with private cars as they were back in 2019, if not busier. If fuel at £1.70+ was "unaffordable", people would only be using their
cars for essential journeys such as commuting...
£1.70 per almond croissant? I regularly get one from Waitrose for £1.30. They're good, made by Deli France and regularly sell out.Almond croissant, nice one admittedly, priced £1.70 at baker a year ago and, after four price hikes, was £2,75, same size, when I bought one in January, which would have been the last one I ever bought there even if the bakery hadn't closed after its roof was blown off in Storm Eunice!
Then on Friday went to greengrocer to buy small pot of fresh white crabmeat, increased in price from £6.99 to £7.99 since last week.
One of the most cost effective ways of saving money on supermarket bills is to swap as many items as possible from branded to 'own brand' items.I wonder whether we are going to see a change in shopping habits: far more use of the cheapest supermarkets and discount shops, and also more buying of own brand basic varieties of goods (and doing your own shopping so you can pick carefully rather than getting it delivered). As an extreme example of savings: the only bran flakes available in my village Tesco are Kellogg’s at £2.49 for 500 g. The Morrison’s in the nearby town has 1 kg. packets at £1.20. Years of being skint mean that I have been quite happy to cart the large box back from Morrison’s on the bus, but how many people would just grab the smaller box and pay without thinking? With things as they are, more may start thinking about what and where they buy.
Everyone who regularly shops at Tesco will be aware of the existence of the Clubcard, and aware of the benefits that owning one comes with.Tesco Meal Deals have gone up from £3.00 to £3.50, and the majority of multibuys are now clubcard-only too. Which would be fine if they actually advertised it and let people know, but they've been very sneaky in how they've done it (price stickers now say "Meal Deal £3" in large print, then in very very small letters underneath, "clubcard price only").
It's a bit early for that as there are still frosty mornings.Yes food prices are going up, but not really a supply problem like there was during Second World War.
Although there are those with financial hardship, haven’t seen any evidence of people rushing to dig allotments so they can plant seeds and have free healthy vegetables in summer and autumn.
Perhaps it's just me but I'm not sure: "Well it's not as bad the Second World War" isn't quite the level I think we should be aiming for as a country!!Yes food prices are going up, but not really a supply problem like there was during Second World War.
Round where I am the waiting list for allotments is long and basically you're waiting for someone to die or go into a care home before you've got a hope in hell of getting one. Some people could of course dig up parts of their garden (my grandfather used this approach) but not everyone is blessed with a garden or at least one of a sufficient size. Especially those who are likely to be in financial hardship. That also presumes that people have the time to put into an allotment what with childcare, work and other demands on time. So I'm not sure that a lack of people "rushing to dig allotments" is a good indicator of a lack of a problem.Although there are those with financial hardship, haven’t seen any evidence of people rushing to dig allotments so they can plant seeds and have free healthy vegetables in summer and autumn.
Yes Jack Monroe has done a lot of work on this subject especially pointing out that it's those very staples where some of the biggest hits are coming. The Tesco own brand penne pasta or the Asda packet of rice. For someone like myself, who is lucky enough that I don't face a massive financial crunch due to my own circumstances, if I need to I can just step down from branded to own brand and make instant savings if required. But for people who have already done that? Any increase in the price of their food is going to be difficult to manage and we're already seeing big percentage increases in those very items.However, as other posters have quite rightly pointed out, anyone who is already doing this has little scope for further savings,
so many be forced to use resources such as food banks in the coming months.
This 'benefit' (hiking up the prices on large numbers of products for non clubcard holders - definitely in excess of 10% of their stock) is relatively new though, until recently the cards were only really used to collect points on purchases with clubcard specific prices being few and far between.Everyone who regularly shops at Tesco will be aware of the existence of the Clubcard, and aware of the benefits that owning one comes with.
This! Even a tin or two in the collection can go a long way for those that are forced into using a foodbank. Though don't forget that people who use foodbanks deserve treats to. Chucking an Easter egg in at this time of year would be helpful for those with children for instance.PS - if you can support your local food bank. They are needed now and will be needed more in the near future.
This! Even a tin or two in the collection can go a long way for those that are forced into using a foodbank. Though don't forget that people who use foodbanks deserve treats to. Chucking an Easter egg in at this time of year would be helpful for those with children for instance.