Worried about rising cost of food - do you think it'll get higher?

[ConfusedPigeon]

In the last 18 months or so ive been struggling to keep the food budget down. I found an old receipt dated 2016 last week and everything has gone up in price - some things not significantly (up to 20p say) but some things are quite significantly more expensive.
I'm just wondering if anyone knows if it's likely to get any higher? Started to get a bit worried - we've already had to cut back and we're spending the same we were about a year ago but fresh fruit is now limited, we have to be careful about what we eat and when and almost everything we buy is basic/value brands, with the odd item being from the next brand up (Tesco own brand, but not value) if value doesn't have that item, mind you I've also noticed value brands being changed to sound "naice" and prices being changed when the packaging is; even if the item is the same...
bulk cooking and meal planning is now a thing in our house too,
We mainly shop at Asda or tesco.
Has anyone else noticed this and is it likely to get much worse?

I’ve changed my shopping around quite a bit to get around this

I shop for particular supermarkets for items I know are cheaper, will stock up on 10 items

For example I use olives from Aldi in a sauce and so buy 10 jars
Then Tesco tomato with garlic and herbs are better value than Sainsbury so buy 10 boxes
Sainsbury sell whole meal spaghetti so buy 10

Fruit and cage tables from local greengrocer as it’s literally half the price of supermarkets and worthwhile popping in during my lunch break during the week and then use the market at weekend - strawberry’s 89 a punnet instead of £1.50 cherry tomatoes same size punnet as Aldi 29p

Shop around, I only visit one supermarket per week but know what’s cheaper where so stock up

Due to the VERY cold spring and the VERY dry summer, harvests of many staple crops will be poor across the Northern hemisphere this year
which will push up prices

Brexit uncertainty is weakening the pound
which will push up prices

and if there is a Hard Brexit next year
Brits will get a lot slimmer quite quickly

are chickens not expensive especially if they get ill

you have to buy them, then house them,feed them or do people build their own runs and just feed on scraps,genuinley no idea just thinking they could be costly

It’s true that in real terms food is now very cheap by historical standards, thanks to economies of scale and brutal cut-throat competition among supermarkets, but people have become accustomed to this, they expect it and they budget accordingly.

The pound is currently very weak due to fear in financial markets about the consequences of Brexit. This increases the price of everything we import, including food. If our useless, incompetent government can do some sort of sensible Brexit deal, that may ease pressure on the pound, but if it’s a no deal scenario, the pound can only weaken further, which will mean higher food prices.

I think how we eat is changing. They are starting to farm insects for food now to give us a cheaper protein source. I would definitely eat insects given the opportunity.

More people will have to eat veggie diets whether they like it or not. A spag Bol made with lentils will cost a fraction compared to one made with mince.

I'm going to try planting a nut bush for protein first before I start on the insects!

*Sainsbury sell whole meal spaghetti so buy 10(

Asda does whole wheat spaghetti at something daft like 40p ish if that helps,never seen it less cheap anywhere

Sainsbury sell whole meal spaghetti so buy 10

Asda does whole wheat spaghetti at something daft like 40p ish if that helps,never seen it less cheap anywhere

I wonder if restaurants and takeaways will have to bump their prices up even more too so they continue to make enough profit

Thevtriuble is food is now incredibly cheap and probably more or less the lowest as a proportion of household income thatbits ever been.
A rise is inevitable

I can’t see how food could do anything but rise in price. I lived quite rurally in the 70s and our diets were limited then partly because supply chains were different and we ate quite simply and locally. I can see the country shifting back to that model post Brexit - it just won’t cost the same to eat the way we’re used to now. So many processed foods are made in the EU and with new tariffs a mystery we have to assume price rises. British crops will go up in price (if we can get them picked) as a response to the market change. I bet ten years from now we won’t recognise our diets from the early 2000s.

Um, yes of course its going to get more expensive, especially if we have a no deal Brexit. A no deal Brexit will have a significant impact due to falling value of the pound, increased import costs and delays in getting food onto shelves.

I wonder if restaurants and takeaways will have to bump their prices up even more too so they continue to make enough profit
Of course they will
or they close
as hundreds of restaurants have closed this year

and with new tariffs a mystery we have to assume price rises
They are not a mystery AT ALL
The EU tariff and the WTO tariff are online
22% on all dairy if I remember rightly ...

are chickens not expensive especially if they get ill

Relatively high initial outlay. A chicken coop is probably around a hundred pounds even for a fairly cheap one. But people often use their sheds. Hens typically cost between £7 and £10. But then they lay an egg a day between February and late November (and sometimes in between if you're lucky). So ultimately you get back the cost. Ours eat a mixture of feed and scraps.

Brexit or no Brexit food prices will rise. Rising demand for meat from China for a start.

Cloudtree I wouldn't argue about home grown being a good idea for the hardworking but I'm a poor horticulturalist. I seem to mainly feed the wildlife!

it will get a lot more expensive.

£ in nosedive
europe wide draught this summer
import duties from next april due to brexit.

better get used to shortages...

Hay and straw yields are way down too, so it's going to cost a lot more to get livestock through winter. Plus the LFASS (less-favoured area support scheme) payment is going, which has pushed two of my friends into giving up the small beef herds that run alongside their sheep farming, as they'll be loss-making without the support payment.

I don't see this as a problem, given that most people eat too much and throw too much away. Just buy less food.

Meat and fish prices are going up but vegetarian stuff seems stable. Maybe a reason to eat more veggie food?

Meat and fish prices are going up but vegetarian stuff seems stable
piffle
pulse harvests have been dire
and most pulses are imported
solanum family vegetables are almost all imported
british winter crop harvests are well down

@flopsyrabbit1

Because we cook from scratch every night, once a week, we used to cook something really nice like scallops or steak etc. By the time we'd bought the ingredients, it worked out cheaper getting a takeaway. X

I think we will have to get used to eating a smaller range of food, and will have to become very well informed about nutrition in order to get a good balanced diet on a budget.

just had stewed apple for dessert - free apart from the fuel as neighbour has more than he can eat. freezes well.

strawberries are long out of season. lots of free blackberries out there!