To think weekly shop prices are outrageous?

[meadowlark3]

I was in Sainsbury's yesterday and was a bit surprised by the prices. We buy nearly the same items every week and whilst I expect some variation, some of the prices had me Own brand hummous is usually £1, this week was £1.50. Gallia melon always £1 each, now also £1.50. Has anyone else noticed this? Is it Brexit now impacting the retailer and theyre no longer absorbing the change?

I was yesterday but read today that John Lewis has had profits halve due to Brexit and not yet passing the change on to customers.

I'm not in the UK, but I think everyone in the U.K. is going to be surprised by how much food prices could increase after Brexit. I paid €1.99 for own brand humus and €2.79 for a melon today, at a Sainsbury's equivalent. The pound is almost at parity with the Euro and the U.K. has had very low food prices for ages.

Tesco butter was 99p last year and it's now £1.31!

Yes, Sand . I read threads like this and wonder who on the thread voted for Brexit. I guess people who voted for Brexit either think this is just a weird, annoying thing supermarkets are doing or reassure themselves by whispering "Short term pain, long term gain" to themselves over and over again.

It's also smaller, in the UK a head of broccoli is a third of the size we get here and double the price.
If people think UK prices are cheaper/better value they're kidding themselves. Only place I spend time that is more expensive than the UK is Switzerland, and that is eye watering.

Where do you live Choca? I live on the border of two northern EU countries and regularly visit a third and all are more expensive than the U.K.

Food prices in the UK have been very cheap for a long time. Food is definitely dearer in a lot of other countries. Try Sweden - a cauliflower costs £4!

I don't agree that Sainsburys is always more expensive. Before I shop I always put my list into "mysupermarket.com". Quite often Sainsburys is the cheapest. They are practically never the dearest. Quite often Tesco or Asda are the dearest.

Both me and DH are vegetarian so obviously are buying different things from a lot of posters. Also Sainsburys basic range is brilliant

Where do you live choca? I'm in Sweden and food prices are 3-5x what they are in the uk. And Swedish prices are lower than Norwegian.

I Ocado everything these days. Good offers!

I'd say Dutch and Belgian prices are 50% higher than the U.K. and German close to that.

Go to an Indian cash and carry (famous ones are Vb & Sons in London and Falcon in Leicester, and there's also a Flour mill in Leicester called Jalpur) and stock up on your favourites. Hummous never has to be bought when an entire 12 crate of British processed tinned chick peas costs 3-4 pounds at most (the kilo bag of sesame seeds can be bought there too).

Spain

But you had better brace for more, what about the customs charges on everything once you are out of the EU? Your bills are going to double

The customs charges may be 2-3% on the assumption the foodstuff comes from the EU, and a lot of our food comes from further afield - you can have views on the eco-unfriendliness of that, but it is a fact. And it's possible that the UK won't impose tariffs, to encourage other countries not to impose them on UK goods.

In terms of prices, food is ridiculously cheap. I think there's a divide between those who enjoy eating and therefore want to spend money on food, and those who just see it as fuel, don't really get any enjoyment out of good quality food, so want to shop as cheaply as possible. I know there are a lot of people who have to watch the pennies but in my experience it's usually people with money who moan about prices.

If food in Ireland is more expensive than in the UK, why will Brexit be an eye-opener? Ireland is in the EU. What I can imagine happening (because I have heard this is the case in Switzerland) is that the range of items will reduce - so for example instead of having 20 different yogurts to choose from there may only be about 12. But I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing, unless it's your favourite that disappears.

Spain isn't really a relevant comparison because both incomes and overall cost of living are lower and Spain is a producer country for many foods. The UK's relevant comparators are across Northern Europe in countries with similar economic profiles.

Hmmm. I think a lot of people are using food banks, Purple. You may not hear them moaning, but I'm quite sure it's not just because they're middle class and like food that they're finding food prices a challenge.

I think the very, very weirdest thing I am hearing in the post-Brexit, prices-climbing world is people telling me that it is middle class and bad to be worried about costs of essentials and basics rising. And that it is the duty of all of us accept this Brexit-made f-up for the sake of ... what? Is it really only the well-off who are affected by rising food prices? I think not.

Purple, what about the entire EU agricultural subsidy system? The UK food being picked by cheap EU labour? The low cost of imports due to the strength of the pound? Do you imagine the end of all those things will have no impact on the cost of food in the U.K.?

My Tesco shop was £10 more this week for the same things I get every week.

It's going to get worse I think

Food WAS relatively cheap compare to other EU countries. That is until a couple of years ago AND the pound collapsing.
Now it's more expensive than other places.

And yes prices have gone up more in the last couple of weeks. I suspect this will continue.

Lidl is increasing its prices too anyway. So they might still be cheaper but prices are in the up there too.

The local farmers weren't able to lift all their crops this year because of the shortage of labour. They were all talking about the problem of getting hold of labourers before it hit the press. I'd say local vegetables in the farm shop, although still cheaper than the supermarkets, are roughly 10% higher than last year.

I don't think Sainsbury's is cheaper than Tesco they are both constantly increasing their prices. Their prices are never the same from one week to the next. I shop in both. I find that Sainsbury's will have various offers on food but they will get that money back by putting other items up. Or the following week that item will be more than it usually is, again to claw back the money! I started to try out Aldi but their fruit and veg just don't cut it. I also find I can get much nicer ground coffee in Waitrose at a much more reasonable price!

Prices are definitely rising across the board but food in the UK is definitely less expensive than in France, except when there's a glut of seasonal produce. This year, the fresh food and veg increases are higher because it has been a poor year for many crops. Sterling's fall against the euro has also compounded the increases, but this may unwind as the pound has risen for the last couple of days since the BoE said there would be an interest rate rise within months. And oil prices have also been rising, which affects the cost of distributing goods.

Food WAS relatively cheap compare to other EU countries. That is until a couple of years ago AND the pound collapsing

It still is much cheaper than most EU countries.

Own brand hummous is usually £1, this week was £1.50. Gallia melon always £1 each, now also £1.50

Give it 4 weeks (that's how long they have to be advertised at that price for) and I bet they'll be "on sale" back at their original prices. The Tesco Local we used to live near used to do this all the bloody time, the swindling gits.