Feeding the masses: the food price crisis in Spain

FIRST the good news: In Spain, at least, we can still find the food we want to buy. In the UK, shortages of both homegrown and imported fruit and vegetables have led to supermarket rationing and a slew of headlines claiming the government is “bad weather in Spain”, for fun. of the media here. .

As a spokesperson for FEPEX, the Spanish exporters’ federation, has clarified: “There are no problems exporting to any EU country”.

Quite simply, higher production costs, the UK’s own agricultural policies, and Brexit in particular, have caused the problem.

These higher production costs are also affecting us in Spain. So while food is not rationed here, it is increasingly inaccessible to many.

To help struggling consumers, the Spanish party Unidas Podemos recently proposed a 14.4% discount on a set of 20 food staples. This is similar, in principle, to the discount of 20 cents per liter that was applied at gas stations between April and December 2022.

A constant crisis

Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas is less than enthusiastic about the idea, optimistic that inflation has finally “peaked”, despite prices remaining as high as ever.

He notes that the government has already introduced VAT (VAT) reductions on certain foods. On January 1, VAT was reduced from 4% to 0% on basic items, including bread, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit, vegetables, and cereals. The tax on oil and pasta was also reduced from 10% to 5%.

However, these foods remain expensive throughout the country.

According to a recent study by the website Trading Economics, food in Spain cost 15.5% more in January than in January 2022 (the increase is even higher in the United Kingdom with 17.1%).

A weekly grocery store that a year ago cost €200 in Spain now costs €231.

What exactly has gone up?

Data from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) confirm that the price of basic foods has reached all-time highs.

About 30 different foods are 10% more expensive than a year ago, including dairy products such as cheese (22.1%), yogurt (25.1%), and milk (37.5%).

Bad news if you like frying: olive oil has risen 35.2% and eggs 29.8%.

For its part, rice has increased by 21.7%, pasta by 19%, bread by 15.4% and breakfast cereals by 11.4%. Vegetables have risen more than 10%.

Maybe it really is time to go vegetarian: Chicken and turkey are up 15.1%, pork 13.8% and beef 13.2%. Frozen fish has increased by 13.2% and shellfish by 13.4%.

Why is it so bad?

People with lower incomes and already stretched families are disproportionately affected by food price inflation.

Some parents told Olive Press that goods once considered “normal” have effectively become “luxuries.”

Anna Langdon, a British expat living in Grenada, explained: “I’m feeding four people on a single-person boarding house, and it’s harder than before.

“Raising six children on homemade soups and home-grown food with little money for decades, I was relatively prepared for the crisis. However, even staples have gone up in price, like butter and cheese, and we’ve had to use less and less and our portion sizes have gotten much smaller.”

He added: “The price increase on pet food is tough and because I have two cats and an elderly dog, sometimes it’s cheaper to buy offal and rice.”

Meanwhile, Lenka, a Romanian mother of three living in Orgiva, explained that she has to cook something substantial that “ideally lasts two or three days.”

“For example, a whole cooked chicken can be used to make soup the second day,” he said.

However, many working parents rely on store-bought snacks, and the cost of these has skyrocketed.

“I know of a case in which the snack that a child takes every day to school has gone up by 300%, affecting the buying behavior of parents,” explains Lucy Hayes Logan, who runs her own advisory agency, Tus Alpujarras.

“The impact can be enormous for those on a fixed salary, single-income households, self-employed workers and people recovering from financial losses caused by Covid.”

“The proposed 14% discount idea is a great idea, but how will it be financed? What are the foods and why those 20? What brands? I have seen reduced items in supermarkets that look attractive, but the discounts are on select lines and there are often lesser-known brands that are still cheaper.”

Will a discount help most consumers?

Unless all foods are reduced, a basket of 20 items will not help everyone. For example, it is unlikely to include pet food, which has seen huge increases, with a 20kg bag of grain going from €11 to €18 to €20.

Leonie SURNAME, owner of the health food store Camac, in Orgiva, raises different concerns. “Smaller outlets need money from their sales to restock. How long will it take to get the 14% refund from the government?

Cepsa service station boss Joaquín Rodríguez said: “When the government discount scheme for fuel ended, motorists rushed to fill up their tanks and then returned to the same buying behavior as before.” Cepsa now applies its own 12% discount with a loyalty card.

How to save money

Whether or not the government decides to deduct 14.4% of certain foods, consumers can save money by being smart.

For starters, download the store’s loyalty apps: both Lidl and Dia have apps that give access to discount coupons, while Consum has a savings scheme (the Mundo Consum card) where members can recover a percentage of their spending monthly, delivered as an application. OK.

When you’re in the store, look for private label products that cost less than, for example, imported British products. Also look for discounts of the day and multi-buy deals.

If all else fails, start planting your own vegetables and raising goats and chickens, and return to the centuries-old traditions of rural Spain. It is not that we lack rural space.

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