Let's talk grocery prices round the world

[50ShadesOfCatholic]

I'm curious to know how much basic foods cost around the world. You know, pasta, rice, bread, butter, cheese, fruit and vegetables... that sort of thing.

I'll start with a receipt from NZ.

Mind you, salaries are amongst the highest in the world here, so they more than offset the cost of food (especially if you can cross-border shop).

I think the cost of food has gone up a lot, but also “gourmet” items are more “everyday” grocery choices here too @50ShadesOfCatholic. (Like olives - which I love too, but their cost can be cheap for imported, crappy jarred ones or sell-a-kidney for marinated Spanish ones.)

@50ShadesOfCatholic - I think there are lots of government help for under x amount household income. Childcare is also subsided, just registered Ds for next year and it will cost around €120 per month for full time care if we want it ( we only need half day). That’s basically the cost of one day in some parts of uk.

Australia in the 1980s food was very cheap - whole trays of beautiful peaches, nectarines and mangoes for A$3, when the £ was worth $2.50 - $3.00 - steak was $7 per kg, prawns were between $7 and $15 per kg. It's ridiculously expensive now, and wages haven't kept track in the main.

Barbara, Aussies used to eat huge amounts of meat - I remember staying in a pub in country NSW and getting steak for breakfast.......

I don't think the UK shop in the DM article is particularly unusual - I'm really nosy about other people's shopping trolleys and it looks pretty average. It's interesting to see which families eat the most bread - Italy, Luxembourg and Turkey by the looks.

3 years since we were home come August 27th - but who's counting, lol.

Mainland Colby, I loved, and Diamond Macaroni is the best for making maccy cheese. I can't wait to snarf a sav' again, and to get Heller's GF pre-cooked sausages again, lol.

Goldbar our experience of fresh food being ££££ in New England was similar. We were there in 2018, and I remember being gobsmacked that a pack of very ordinary looking apples (not posh organic or even imported) was $3.99. We stopped snacking on fruit and had crisps or chocolate instead. Good job we were only there for a fortnight or we'd have got scurvy.

Are the families really typical of the countries that they live in?

The Italian family looked pretty typical to me, most people still buy bread everyday from the bakery even in cities, and buying bottled water and fizzy drinks every week is also pretty common. The photo family have three little kids so I imagine they make lots of panini for school/nursery.

I haven't been back to Italy for 2 years so can't comment on prices, my nonna's local supermarket is pretty expensive but it's the only one in a touristy village so they are probably more expensive than say a lidl in a town with a few choices.

@TheTurn0fTheScrew. Yes, I couldn't have lasted much longer there... loved the trip but felt so bloated by the time we came back! Trying to buy individual portions of healthy food to eat on the go (so an orange, some carrot sticks, a small piece of cheese, some milk) was either surprisingly expensive or impossible! I was very surprised as here I can walk into M&S Food (so not even Aldi or Tesco!) and get all of those things for well under £2.