2023-10-04 07:26:00
For more than a year and a half, prices have exploded in all businesses, and particularly in mass distribution. All types of products saw their prices explode for different reasons, and the average customer basket saw increases that exceeded 20%. And in a period when energy prices are stabilizing and there is talk of an end to the crisis, we expect to see prices fall in supermarkets.
A hope which is finally being verified, but too slowly, as indicated by the latest monthly inflation figures published by Testachats. “For the month of September, the organization calculated inflation of 13.5%, a slight decrease compared to the month of August. Good news, for the first time, households are paying their shopping cart a little less than the previous month. However, for Testachats, the price drops remain too weak and too slow. The organization hopes that the ongoing investigations by the Price Observatory and the Competition Authority will provide clear explanations on this subject,” we learn.
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A drop in prices which is not true for all products, unfortunately. “For seven months, it is mainly vegetables which explain this high rate of inflation. They are on average 26% more expensive than last year, with peaks for carrots (+57%) and onions (+53%). Ketchup (+46%), tomato paste (+39%) and frozen fries (+38%) complete the top 5 price increases. Among the 20 products whose prices increased the most last year, Testachats also includes potatoes for the first time (+23%), and is concerned about the sharp increase in the price of this basic product.”
Other commodities have been experiencing high inflation for some time and their prices remain very high this month. Bread is now 16% more expensive than in September 2022, followed by young cheese (gouda) (+ 22%) and eggs (+ 24%).
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What worries Testachats the most is to see certain raw materials falling on international markets, but not yet in stores. “15 out of 16 cooking oils are more expensive than in March 2022, even though the wholesale price of oil has fallen 50% since then. While the international price of dairy products has decreased by 26% compared to June 2022, 9 bottles of semi-skimmed milk and as many packs of young cheese (gouda) in 10 have since increased in price. We are seeing a better development on the cereal side, but here too, 60% of packages of flour and pasta are still more expensive than in October 2022, while the price of cereals has fallen by 18%. The consumer organization agrees that labor and packaging costs have increased, but still questions whether that is the only explanation for the lack of price reductions. It transmitted, as every month, its findings to the Belgian Competition Authority,” we read in the latest report.
Despite this, the news is pretty good. The average basket for a household of two people has therefore fallen by… 2 euros. We are therefore talking about an average sum of 531 euros per month for two people, compared to 533 in August. On the other hand, the increase is still 63 euros compared to last year. “We are delighted to see that the drop in inflation is having, for the first time, a concrete effect on household shopping carts,” says Julie Frère, spokesperson for Testachats. But we must remain realistic: we are still in a period of high inflation, and prices have increased enormously compared to last year. We will continue our work and await analyzes from the Price Observatory and the Belgian Competition Authority to understand whether these increases, sometimes very significant, are really justified.”
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