Can you easily absorb a 20% rise in your grocery bill?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I am worried about this, predicted to come early next year. I moved abroad last year but have people I love in the UK, some are budgeting very tightly already, and there's nothing I can suggest when they are worried.

I find it really troubling. Surely this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back for quite a few people who are coping with limited money? It could mean the difference between being able to get by and being stuck?

Would a 20% increase in food prices be difficult for you, or just a pain in the arse?

Is there any way a price hike can be avoided?

@Mxflamingnoravera

Brexit with no deal will mean 40% on EU products. Wine, salad, pasta etc. I hope you brexiteers are ready for that.

Why buy EU wine - Chile, NZ, Australia all do great wine.

I have to say, having returned from a very long stint living in Belgium, that UK food prices are very low in comparison with Belgian ones, apart from the price of steak, which was always very cheap there.

@Mamamia456

IsAnybodyListening - Why pay that much for it? Nobody's forcing you to buy it. What shop was that in, I paid 48p for prepacked brocolli in Tesco yesterday.

It's 46p each for loose broccoli in Waitrose.

Packaged Tenderstem broccoli spears are 1.60 but if you bother with those you deserve to be fleeced

May be the chlorinated chicken will be cheap.

I think we’d be okay, I eat very little and DS would be fine. We could survive on foods from farm shops I think but then again they might not keep up with demand

I can but my household income is substantial

@KenDodd

And now they'll be the ones that suffer the most Well it seems fair to me that the people who voted for it suffer the most, don't you think? After all, how many times have we heard 'we knew what we voted for'? And if we have a return to violence in NI they will have blood on their hands as well, they get zero sympathy from me. It's the people who didn't vote for it I worry about.

And no I won't stop moaning about it, I will keep reminding voters and government what they have done.

100% agree

Thankfully we can afford an increase in our shopping but I know many people who won’t be able to.
At present we make weekly donations to the local food bank, if our shopping bill increases by 20-50% this will stop.

Pointythings - So scaremongering by Cake Required.

Ah yes the great argument tactic of 'scaremongering' to try and make it sound like it's not the truth. Used by farage, trump, people you definitely trust. Are you going to use fake news next?

I remember my local supermarket used to have a big drop box just after the checkout for pet food the local animal shelter. I used to sometimes put in some milk or choc drops so the cats and dogs could have a treat :)
A while after the Tories came to power the animals shelters box was replaced by a drop box for the local food bank. Jacob Rees-Mogg has described this as 'uplifting'.

My family could manage but I know a lot who couldn't. There are already over 2000 food banks in the UK. People are literally starving. It's shocking. And incomprehensible that the government can be so blasé about a significant portion of the population facing food poverty.

The EU have a fairly extensive trade deal with Morocco which takes account of various sectors including food, and also a deal with a bunch of central American countries inc Costa Rica. These deals will no longer apply to us when we are out of the transition period.

July 2019 -
"The UK and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama have signed the UK-Central America Association Agreement."

www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-central-america-sign-continuity-agreement

"The UK government signed a trade and political continuity agreement with the Moroccan government in London on 26 October 2019."

www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-morocco-sign-continuity-agreement

Yes we can afford it but it will be annoying. Food in the UK is currently pretty cheap compared to other countries I've been to. I didn't vote for it though and have never understood why people thought it would improve their lives.
I have lost all sympathy with people who voted for it and will be negatively impacted. The effect of brexit has always been obvious imo so can't say they weren't warned!

We can, but like everyone I’m sure, there’s many other things I would rather spend that 20% on

Also eat less food is frankly a crock of shit. I’m not overweight, if anything at a low end of Bmi so I shouldn’t lose anymore. And I’m breastfeeding a baby. If I halved my daily intake ( which is a normal amount of food), I would be ill very quickly and baby deprived of a decent amount of milk. Not everyone is eating ‘ way more’ than recommended.

But yes food in the uk is way cheaper than other countries. I live in another Eu country and a cucumber for example is €1.50. A pack of 4 sausages would be €6 (basic supermarket). So why is uk food much cheaper? It can’t all be Eu subsidies otherwise surely all Eu countries would have cheaper food.

My friend is a carer for her elderly mum. She lives on carers allowance which is £67 a week. Out of that she also has to pay some council tax. She rarely puts the heating on and is already relying on food banks.

So why is uk food much cheaper?

I'm not sure if Sainsbury's are still planning this - September 2019;

"Suppliers to J Sainsbury have been told by the supermarkets group that they must bear the brunt of European Union import tariffs if there is a no-deal Brexit."

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sainsburys-tells-suppliers-to-cover-cost-of-no-deal-tariffs-8878cvrwh

Cake Required - Well it is fake news if it's not true. So do you have a link to an article that says immigrants will be asked to leave come January? I haven't seen anything about this.

Mamamia456 it's simple:

1. at present nobody is asking immigrants to leave. However, there are problems with the Settled Status scheme which will in the future lead to deportations. The government are fully aware and choose to do nothing.
2. given the rhetoric coming out of Westminster, why should immigrants like me trust this government to do right by us?
3. if I had £1 for every time a so called (and now former) friend/acquaintance said to me 'blah blah blah immigrants but I don't mean you', I'd have been able to fund a nice outing for me and DDs.

Ophelia2020 - Does she not get universal credit? Has your friend checked to see what other benefits she is entitled to, because that is very low.

Pointythings - "At present nobody is asking immigrants to leave".

Exactly, so people shouldn't be saying on here that they are being asked to leave when it's not true.

At least there will be less general food waste and the chlorine will make the chicken last longer.

I'll probably eat every other day so the children can eat well every day.

We could afford it at a stretch. We would probably eat less meat, but having said that veg will go up too, so I can't see there being an easy way to save money without just eating less.

Also concerned and angry about paying more for shitter quality and supply issues if no deal. I'm worried for people who are already struggling.

I know people who have already prepped for these outcomes and they all voted leave! Seems bonkers that this is what it has become.

Some are already being told to leave. And as pointythings said why would they want to stay here? What exactly does Britain have to offer them now? More racism? More inequality? Less money? Less jobs? Higher priced food? I can't think why they'd leave...

I've had a lot of European friends who have left already. Not because of Brexit looming, but because they started a family and looked at high house prices or ridiculous rental prices, extortionate nursery bills and low wages and decided that it was shit living here. That's what people don't get. People don't come here for benefits and to breed, they come here because it (was) easier to walk into a job without prior training here (versus others who require some sort of education, even to do some jobs that are seen as low skill) and English is also widely spoken in other countries, so an easier transition. The benefits of this now do not outweigh the other issues and these will only increase now if there is no deal. So all those leave voters will attribute people leaving due to Brexit, not the fact that people actually think the UK is now a bit of a rubbish place to live. Ridiculous food prices might add to that, especially if everything else is ridiculously priced too.

"Pretty much everyone can just eat less.
People eat loads.
Yes it’s not ideal but half portions won’t kill you. It’s not the end of the world."

WTAF? That has been one of the most short-sighted head-up-arse comments I've ever read on MN. My God.