Supermarket Price Increases [Groceries]

geronimo123

I normally buy Tesco's 750ml own brand Smoothie, noticed the price jumped from €1.50 to €2.19 a couple of weeks back. Everything seems to be going up, I make sure to bring my glasses with me shopping these days!

zell12

H.W. Nevill's Part Baked Baguette 2 Pack was 59c a few months ago, now 79c. Still 59c in Aldi, and just gone to 69c in Lidl

zell12

Milk just gone up in Tesco

T 1l Milk 75c 85c 95c €1.05

T 2l Milk €1.49 €1.69 €1.89 €2.09

T 3l Milk now €2.90

Tesco family brown sliced bread up by 15% this week, from 85c to €1.00

I know it doesn't sound a lot when you're talking 15 cent - but when you put "per" in front of the "cent" and it's on so many items across the whole shop, it really begins to add up.

RayCon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119273074#Comment_119273074

That's actually a 17.6% increase 🤓

You are absolutely correct! 😂 🍞

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119273074#Comment_119273074

Bread will go up even more in the coming weeks and months. Given how much of the world's grain comes from Ukraine there are going to be issues

muffler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119273069#Comment_119273069

Just looked back through a couple of email confirmations for the online shopping and the 3 litres of low fat milk was €2.29 on May 4. It went up to €2.59 sometime after that and now its €2.90.

CH3OH

These were 29 cent a few months back

Then went to 39 cent

Now 59 cent

The same are made for Lidl . Not sure about Aldi

Various flavours

Surprise . They are gone to 59 cent in Lidl!

Price match ...= price fixing

odyssey06

Have you checked the EC code on those yoghurts, maybe the reason they are the same price is that the same supplier makes them?

zell12

Examiner doing a selection

odyssey06

And Tesco, unlike Dunnes and Supervalu don't have any spend and save schemes at all!

So on a bigger shop, the difference would jump up.

macvin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119275115#Comment_119275115

all of these comparison surveys are ridiculous. Who goes in and just buys the few items these surveys do? But suits the media narrative of bad news sells papers.

Prices barely moved for the past 15 years. Many grocery prices actually dropped in price. But sure the media would never point that out. Compare those prices to 2008 and see what the comparison is - most will be cheaper than then.

Maybe people will also think twice about over buying and then throwing so much out and maybe people will also start to realise that a best before date is not a use by date.

And there is some good news (you'll never read this in the press) wheat prices have fallen as there's been a bumper crop in the USA, further falls are expected as a shipping corridor should open soon from Odesa. Fertiliser prices have fallen dramatically in recent weeks as there's a glut of supply. Building material prices have fallen too. And then there's the fact that there has never been a consumer slow down or recession in history that did not involve oil and gas prices dropping and I'd be fairly confident that oil prices will start falling soon as demand is starting to fall.

So terribly sorry about ruining people's day with some positivity.

Tonesjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119275115#Comment_119275115

As with pretty much everything else in life - you get what you pay for.

Are the ingredients and nutritional value of the cheaper products comparable to the more expensive name brands?

If not then its pointless

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119279684#Comment_119279684

Did you see the list? I don't see how your point applies to the vast majority of the items on the list. D

Tonesjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280203#Comment_119280203

Pick one.

White bread 79 cent.

What are the ingredients, preservatives etc vs a 2.50 loaf

Every single item can be compared.

"Why eat brocoli with your dinner when you can eat crisps because they are cheaper"

muffler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119279660#Comment_119279660

never saw as much crap and misinformation in a post

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280258#Comment_119280258

Pick one?

The dairy products probably all come from the same creameries.

Do you buy a branded whole chicken? Beef mince? Eggs?

Or potatoes, carrots?

Go ahead, give us a comparison of the chicken, bread, milk and potatoes between the supermarkets.

Tonesjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280270#Comment_119280270

Thats the point. Why is the bread so much cheaper. 60% cheaper. The ingredients can't be the same

The chicken- what food was it raised on, hormone injected, the size of the product etc.

Comparing prices is pointless unless the ingredients and nutritional value is also compared.

It's like saying a fiat and a ferrari are the same thing because they are both cars.

I just don't think it's the full picture thats all

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119279684#Comment_119279684

Unfortunately for many families, especially those on lower incomes, they could never afford to spend €2.50 on one loaf of bread.

So buying the best quality store own brand is what they do, to make their euros go further.

The only comparison that matters here, is what these basic items cost them this week, as opposed to what they paid for the same item last week, or last year.

Then as has already been mentioned, there is a lot of "shrinkflation" going on, on top of price increases.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280296#Comment_119280296

SO you have no actual information about the differences between the supermarkets?

You have absolutely zero idea if the differ in significant respects.

'Large chicken' is a standardised weight. All the fresh chickens sold in the listed supermarkets are from Ireland, so all produced to same standards.

The dairy products come from the same creameries.

Is a 2kg bag of potatoes going to weigh less in LIDL? Or more in Tesco? Comparing their price is pointless? Really?

Nonsense.

Tonesjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280317#Comment_119280317

I don't understand what that has to do with anything.

I'm talking about the comparison. I could go fill my trolley with garbage food and pat myself on the back for saving a few quid. But I'm only hurting myself in the long run.

So for the third time. If food comparisons are to be made the comparison should compare the products ie price, ingredients, nutritional value etc

The full picture

Tonesjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280329#Comment_119280329

That's what I am asking. The examiner for example is only showing the price. Its lazy journalism. Helps nobody and achieves nothing.

They should print a proper comparison of 10 staple items and let's see

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280341#Comment_119280341

That's a pretty big ask... what would that even entail to assess the 'quality' of a chicken?

And how reliable\consistent would it be? You could test Tesco's chickens \ potatoes month on month and find variability for natural reasons.

So I would argue of course it achieves something, it notifies people of the price differentials in staples.

Could the products vary in quality. Yes.

Do we have any grounds for thinking there is a consistent difference in quality say for chickens produced in Ireland to standard, of a standard size across supermarkets? Nope.

So in the absence of any information in that regard, price is the reasonable basis to assess them and is the basis on which most people assess such staple items.

Tonesjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119281097#Comment_119281097

Why choose chicken instead it bread, milk etc that have the ingredients amd nutritional information written on the back!

It's that easy

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119281139#Comment_119281139

Bread, pasta, biscuits are about the only ones it is going to be that easy for. Which is why I said it doesn't apply to most of the items listed.

For milk and butter and cheddar cheese you're not going to find any listed differences, they are all produced to the same standard in the same creameries. There will be natural variability in them.

Tonesjones

On that list the difference in nutritional value and or ingredients would be easily made between

Cheese

Milk

Butter

Pasta

Bread

And biscuits.

It's written on the back. I would be very interested to see the difference in bread.

Do you have any to post the label?

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119281199#Comment_119281199

Look at the back of the label of any unbranded dairy sold in supermarkets in Ireland and tell me if you notice any significant difference between them.

I'll save you the time. You won't.

It is all produced to the same standard in the same creameries.

I've even included branded Kerrygold.

The only differences in display for rounding:

https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/product/1000941000

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/en-IE/products/252293306

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/en-IE/products/256148289

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119280334#Comment_119280334

Let me put it simply then.

Buying the "best" quality brands you want is fine when you have an unlimited budget.

But buying cheaper or supermarket own brands is not buying "garbage" food. If someone has a family to feed, and a limited budget to do it with, they are going to go with the best quality they can afford. There is nothing wrong with that.

So they buy the supermarket's own brand bread for €1 a sliced pan instead of one for €2.50. If they've themselves plus a couple of kids to make breakfast and lunches for every day they probably go through one of these a day. So €7 a week as opposed to €17.50.

Milk is another example. A litre of supermarket own brand milk at €1.09 rather than a litre of Premier Dairies milk at €1.39.

A box of six large eggs at €1.19, or €1.89 for "free range". Likewise, a 1.5kg chicken for €4 or the 1.5kg "free range" chicken for 50% more at €6?

The examples are endless.

For these familys its not about reducing quality or sacrificing nutrition to be stingy just to save a few quid. Its about making their budget go as far as possible.

To me, bread is bread, milk is milk, eggs are eggs, and a chicken is a chicken. It's not "garbage"

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119281368#Comment_119281368

It's not even comparing branded with own brand \ organic or free range with barn.

From the list the items compared appear to be unbranded standard offerings. I don't see how you can therefore make a case that some of the own brand \ staples are garbage nutritionally versus others.

Likewise proposition that standard Irish chickens or milk or butter or cheese or staples like potatoes or carrots are 'garbage' nutritionally is a big claim, and big claims require a foundation. There's simply nothing behind it.