Grocery bill increase

[MooseBreath]

Just been reviewing this month's spends and I'm gobsmacked by the price of groceries lately. If anything, we've been cooking more from scratch, so it should surely be cheaper?

I don't know if it's Brexit, Covid, or supermarkets taking the piss. Has anyone else noticed this?

Food processing costs have significantly increased due to Covid
Making factories covid secure , and social distancing in workplaces adds to manufacturing costs which the Supermarkets have had to pass on
It is the same across the manufacturing sector , In my business I use lots of cardboard wraps and boxes , there is a nationwide shortage of card, due to socially distanced production lines in factories meaning they are less efficient than before , Covid measures have led to increased production costs in most sectors
Brexit will also cause imported food costs to rise

I have found that since the start of the pandemic there have been fewer offers and higher prices giving a double whammy.

I have started using cash and carry where we can, I can buy a frozen large rib eye for £28 which will do steaks for 8, so 2 sets of meals which is a really good deal, but feeling the pain after a couple of bulk shops in the last few weeks.

I have also moved to shopping in Sainsbury’s rather than Tesco’s, (fewer queues). I have also started shopping in the small Sainsbury’s rather thane superstore and so there is less choice.

I noticed today that tinned tuna steak in Lidl has gone up from 89p to £1.39 in less than a year!

We used to spend around £85 a week (including alcohol and cleaning stuff). Its nearer £120 now.

Yup. Prices gone up, and kids at home.

I try to buy the largest packet of something as it usually works out cheaper, but there are not many items like this anymore in Tesco. In fact the size of things are smaller, but still the same price. They don’t tend to have any offers apart from the clubcard offers.

Tescos have changed their offers to club card holders only so if you don't have a club card you'll have to pay full price. Also supermarkets stopped the multi buy offers last year due to people panic buying,

I haven't really noticed a great increase in my weekly food shop, but I think it depends on what you're buying. I mainly buy things when they are on offer, don't buy ready meals or processed food, no crisps etc and cook from scratch.

@greeneyedlulu

Yes, however I switched to Aldi as I was shopping in Asda and spending £180 a week. First week I went to Aldi, I spent £75! Can't really fault Aldi for quality.

Wow!

I will have to start going there.
I am usually a Tesco/ Waitrose M&S shopper....buy ye gods...the prices.

Aldi might be worth a go ..That is a heck of a saving.
I used to be a bit snooty about quality, until DS bought me a bag of groceries from Aldi during isolation and I was impressed.

200 quid a week for 2 adults and a toddler!!! Do you shop in Harrods ?

CherryRoulade - You're spending an extra £50 a week?

I've noticed the opposite. Things like pasta and pasta sauce, potatoes and other basic stuff is actually a bit cheaper, and tons of stuff is yellow stickered for literally pennies.

Yes, everything has gone up. I am feeding five adults including two young sons aged 20 and 22 who eat a huge quantity of food. Have switched to Aldi own brand for most products and we are eating a lot of home made soup and vegetarian bakes/stews.

I'm the same. Some things have increased in price by more than a third, and there are far fewer deals - I've really noticed this with washing detergent and cleaning products, where I used to do online shopping and buy whichever brand was on discount that week, but now it's usually none of them.

I buy the same things every week on my delivery and haven’t noticed an overall increase.
Some things have gone up a tiny bit but not in an OMG way. I can still buy cabbage at less than 50p bagged salad at 80p mince at £1.55 and brand have coffee at £2.49 I think it’s all pretty cheap.

@Dugee

You beat me to it. I was just going to create a thread asking how much people spend on food. I shop at Tesco once a month and buy fresh stuff from my village every Friday.

I think our food shop has gone up from around £200 per month to about £250 per month.

@Dugee can I politely ask if it’s more expensive shopping this way? I have a nice (but not so cheap) local butcher and fruit shop who deliver, so I was thinking of cancelling my Tesco delivery saver pass and just get one slot per month.

Not being able to shop around doesn't help. Before covid, I would maybe pop into Wilko or Home Bargains and get cleaning stuff, now I just get it on my weekly Tesco shop or Amazon. I used to also pop into Iceland also Waitrose was very good for getting yellow sticker stuff and sometimes had different offers but of course now that is extra journeys.

We’re actually very lucky - the DH works for a catering supplies company that switched their focus when lockdown happened the first time , to include food boxes for home deliveries , which are very popular and have kept the company afloat . They also allowed their staff to buy from them at a significant discount , so in many ways , we’ve eaten better than we did before for less money .

Mind you DH did a click and collect from Sainsburys last week ( he doesn’t do large quantities of food shopping often , food is my department , but I’ve been pinged by track and trace ) and he was shocked at how little he got for £75 . He hasn’t shut up about it since .

Price increases were always known to be the consequence of Brexit red tape. Add in Covid you have a double whammy.

My costs have actually gone down as I’ve switched from Ocado due to the poor range and poor value of M&S stuff to Sainsbury’s which is significantly cheaper. I do 2 Sainsbury’s 1 Waitrose shop then Ocado once a month for French stuff you can’t get elsewhere.

I also stockpiled European foods before Christmas as price rises were inevitable.

@Kazzyhoward

Supermarkets have been taking the piss throughout covid. There are barely any offers anymore and lots of prices have been rounded up, and that's been the case since around last March.

^ This

What really irks me is that any special offers on the Tesco website pretty much always expire before my Click and Collect day (which are like gold dust).

Week after week, I'm having to pay full price for everything because the offers are so short dated (they only last about a week at the most, and then always expiring the day before my C+C.

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if there is some algorithm working in the background.....

@Catsneezies

Actually I found that prices went up massively at the start of the pandemic last year. People were desperate for shopping delivery slots and I think the supermarkets took advantage. I have used Ocado for years and found that from March onwards last year my shopping bill went up by about a third. Some of that was DH eating lunch at home but he doesn't eat that much! I haven't noticed a recent price increase, its just never gone down since last March.

I found this too last lockdown - my grocery bills suddenly seemed huge. I think part of it was that I was feeding DS at lunchtime, and all the bill went through in one lump (rather than the odd top-up milk and eggs shop in the Co-op).

I have noticed a bit of a hike on fruit and veg, maybe 10% or so (and some supermarkets sneakily cutting their pack size for things like grapes in the run up to Brexit - though that seems to have gone back to normal now).

Kind of connected, has anyone tried the 'feed a family of four five meals for £30' box from Morrisons?
I am so sick of haveing to think about meal planning all the time, i have ordered a box.
There are only two of us, so the freezer will be getting filled with extra portions.

@Iceroadtruckingextremefishing

I think it probably is more expensive but we have a lovely bakery, butcher and greengrocer (who also stock Longley Farm dairy) on our suburb high street. I also prefer supporting independents over supermarkets (especially as I think a lot of supermarkets have taken the piss).

If I really wanted to get my costs down, I'd do Aldi once a week.

Not just prices going up but quantity and quality of packaged food has gone down.eg Morrisons now have only 2 Leeks in a pack for 99p when previously there were 3.
Aldi Granola went up in price and has fewer dried fruits in it.
Small differences.

I have absolutely noticed this!
Been bound by asda since last March as only place we could get slots. Our weekly bill for family of five used to be 80-100. Now it's usually 120. Not buying anything different!

Tbh I've been cooking from scratch and it easily costs me more getting good quality ingredients. I made quiches today which would easily cost less if I bought shop bought but don't taste as fresh. I noticed less offers lately.

early days, but no change at all in Aldi. I know the exact prices of quite a lot of things as I'm shopping for others, so give them an itemised bill each week.

lots more delivery slots needed and those cost - so the delivering supermarkets will put the prices up. I realise that many have no choice. Amazon has always been pricey.

quite surprised to get salad veg this week given it is January and snowy in Spain. Having lived in the Med I know not to expect everything I want to be in stock, but I'm even more grateful for that now. Food is relatively cheap in the UK, believe it or not. I also know that for many, it is not cheap enough compared to their income.

Aldi's do vary but the one I use is fine, and also nice and quiet on a Monday morning; when again I am fortunate as that's when I can go. At the moment if Aldi don't stock it, we all do without - no other errands.