This time last year, aghast the effect on inflation on food prices, I began keeping tabs on how much money I was spending to eat. And so, I have kept every receipt for everything I've eaten and drunk over the past 12 months (excluding entertainment, dining out etc, but including food bought for myself while in town or on business trips away from home).
So here's the bottom line. From 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, I have spent 13,125zł (£2,542) in total in supermarkets, shops, cafes and restaurants. This works out at just under 36zł (£7) a day across the year; here's the shocker - last July, I was spending just 25zł (£4.85) a day.
This is a huge rise. It's almost 50% more. But there's nuance to the story, so I shall be returning to the question of rising food price again on this blog until they stabilise.
Seasonality is an important factor. Strawberries, for example, are greatly cheaper in season, with the lowest prices in mid-to-late June. And Christmas feasting - at this cold, dark and dismal time of year we naturally feel the need to eat more, and the shops just happen offer a wider range of premium products as festive fare. We don't hesitate to splash out.
It's important to compare prices of the same products, and to do so at the same time of year. Seasonality has a huge effect on supply and demand.
Here's the first batch of staples that I could compare precisely, like for like. Note that inflation on domestic products is lower than on those imported from within the EU; we know that Spain is suffering a terrible drought, which explains the 59% rise in prices of olives.
Taking just this small selection of items that often appear in my basket, average inflation across the four works out at 17.1% year-on-year. They cost me 27.46zł a year ago; yesterday, they cost 32.16zł. I will be boring you no doubt with more year-on-year price comparisons, but I intend to do so until Poland's parliamentary elections later this year - just to put whatever the politicians will be saying into the context of my own shopping experience.
| Food price increases | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 June 2022 | 1 July 2023 | Inflation y/y% | |
| Cottage cheese, 500g (Serek wiejski, Piątnica, Poland) | 6.99zł |
7.79zł | 11.4% |
| Olives, pitted 240g (O! - supermarket own-brand, Spain) | 3.89zł |
6.19zł | 59.1% |
| Gherkins in brine, 400g (Multi-smak, Poland) | 6.59zł |
6.99zł | 6.1% |
| Arla Apetina Feta in garlic & parsley brine, 200g (Denmark) | 9.99zł |
11.19zł | 12.0% |
| Arla Castello Danish Blue Cheese, 100g (Denmark) | 7.65zł |
8.05zł | 5.2% |
| Polgreen red lentils, 500g (Poland) | 5.19zł | 6.69zł | 28.9% |
| TOTAL | 40.30zł | 46.90zł | 16.4% |
This time four years ago:
Classic Volgas, Ealing and Ursynów
This time five years ago:
Memory and Me
This time seven years ago:
Sticks, carrots and nudge - a proposal
This time eight years ago:
London vs. Warsaw pt 2: the demographic aspects
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