AIBU TO BE SHOCKED BY THIS INCREASE?!

[Kate0902900908]

So I’ve just gotten over the fuel increase, made some changes and become more aware of the energy I’m using both at home and car.

Went to Lidl today. I buy 2 tubs of cream cheese a week, Lidl Goldessa Classic Cream Cheese 200g. It’s been 65p for as long as I can remember. Today shop assistant was sorting shelves and organising labels ect. New label £1.19. I asked if that was the price of the 65p cream cheese to which she said Yh, it’s not changed yet it’s 75p now but will be £1.19.
HOW? How? Can something almost double in price? Also when I was it 75p 😵‍💫

I noticed the other cheeses all being marked up too some by 80p-£1. Add this increase to even 1/3 of a shop and it’s going to be unmanageable!
Has anyone else noticed prices on things they buy almost doubling?
What is the plan to keep costs down?
Where do we go from Lidl’s own soft cheese 😭

Why don't you just tell parents to provide their own meals? I don't know many childminders who provide food as part of the daily charge - parents expected to provide it

I'm sure I remember hearing that people used to spend a third of their income on food, but pay a lot smaller proportion on housing / utilities.

I can't understand these massive price jumps - what's the cause or have they been holding back all of the costs / normal price rises and now they are catching up?

This! I am entitled to healthy start for my 10 month old. When he was born I could get 3 tubs or formula & some change left over to buy usually some apples, 4pts semi skimmed for myself & older child, some bananas, carrots & a punnet of some sort of berries. I was also breastfeeding so the 3 tubs would last the month.
Now I can only get 2 tubs & no balance left for fruit/veg.
I've found the local market we have in town on a Fri is cheaper but you can't use your healthy start card there.

Always worth checking the world food aisle (at Tesco for us). Products such as tinned beans are much cheaper than on the other aisles for the same quality.

@mydogisthebest..

"Food has been far too cheap in the UK for years. Lots of items stayed at the same low price for years".

My sister and BIL have lived in France for the last twenty years and during that time I've often visited them, supermarket prices there compared with U.K. prices always left me gobsmacked, as another MN pointed out on this thread, maybe they've been kept artificially low in the U.K. for too long and we're paying for this now.

I think the price increases are fertiliser has gone up (i believe supply issues from ukraine/russia), transport costs have gone up and energy costs have gone up. In uk there are staffing issues too in picking cropd.

I dont know how much increase is due to less supply so farms are selling to the highest bidder. I think that might be affecting wheat products. I assume that if we are paing more somewhere in the world they are getting far less?

Tesco is cheaper than aldi and Lidl now, they still have low end value products and offers so if you're not rigid about what you buy you can still make it work, they have good deals each week on fruit and veg, we just have whatever is in that. Also feeling glad I kept on top of the garden this year so we've got blueberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, peppers, chillis, tomatoes, herbs and what looks like it might become a good crop of olives. All planted a few years ago and just looked after, tomatoes and peppers come inside over winter and pepper seeds are replanted. I realise we are lucky to have a big garden and space for this

I was waiting for someone to comment, maybe it’s the best the Op can afford and makes a hearty dinner with cheap veg and spuds. We’d all buy the posh organic, hand stuffed, sausages if we could afford it.

Aldi Norpak - was 1.99 for ages (500 grams), has since increased weekly to now 2.19.

Yes.suddenly 40 is to our food bill.with no changes.it's the same trolley.that not a case of buying essentials yo make it ok.that is missing meals! We can't do that.we cant actually take anything off reasonably.we have already done that.
And that's at Lidl.
Had to pop to Tesco.shit the bed... I got a bag for 40!I wanted to cry.

Also the fuel for farm machinery and for farmers raising animals the cost of animal feed and veterinary care.

It's a mess all around.

I went into Tyger yesterday. All their small packets of herbs and spices had jumped up from £1 to £1.50. Prices aren't creeping up, they are jumping.

Plus the folk who already buy this cheaper cuts are the ones that often need more help nutritionally.so it's only going to get worse for them.they will then be shamed and so cycle of it continues.
This is the stuff people have had to be living off for a long tim now.and suddenly people are seeing it.fucking drives me insane.this is how lots of poverty stricken good folk eat.and often 're shamed for it.or shamed for their bodies eating off it.

Highly unlikely prices will ever come down, unfortunately.

Not happy news from the farming community either - fertiliser that was £364 on last year's crop cost me £668 this year (and that was bought early) - I needed a little extra in spring - luckily 'only' £790 as price peaked at over £1000. Fuel was 62p last year, 108p in the spring, harvest costs are going to be insane.

Farming subsidies have been paid to allow farmers to produce food at less than the cost of production - these are being phased out over the next few years.

The future is looking fucking frightening to be honest.

You need to switch to buying and eating home grown food, not choosing imported avocados and quinoa - the 'wobble' that Putin has put on food security is horrific.

I am beyond shocked at the food price rises. I have always been a 'keep an eye on the cost of things' type of shopper. But my fortnightly shop (with the odd top-up) has gone up from £100 not so long ago to £140. And that's buying the odd high-end luxury, habitually culling a few things from my virtual trolley, and sticking to the cheaper end of what the supermarkets have on offer if the reviews are okay.

250g of butter used to be £1.55 in places like Lidl, now over £2.00.

And I agree that Lidl and Aldi don't seem as cheap as they used to be compared with rivals.

I was going to say that it may be the way to curb obesity (if people can't afford to eat as much). However, if they're opting for less healthy, cheap alternatives, it could make health issues so much worse.

Farmer here. There's a behind the scenes price war going on. Tesco et al are trying to regain market share from Lidl and Aldi. The big supermarkets tend to have longer contracts with producers so are still paying low prices for their food. The discounters tend to buy more on the open market so are more open to volatility.

to those asking why this is happening :

1. There's no price cap on business electric. Ours has gone from 22p to 47p.

2. fertiliser. I'm a small to average arable farmer with livestock. The fertiliser I've just put on the crop I'm about to harvest cost me £55 000. I've just bought next years. Same amount £155 000. The wheat price did go up from £200 to £300 a ton but has dropped back to £250.

3. last year I spent 20k on fuel and oil on my farm. This year will be 40k.

4. because the wheat price jumped so high animal feed costs have rocketed.

5. staff costs. We pay our staff council tax,
   electric et al. It's all going up. We want to be able to give them a good pay rise. Will aim for 8% but might not be able to reach it.

I'm getting increasingly confused about these cost of living posts 🙄

Clue is in the phrase.... cost of LIVING. If they could charge you to breathe, guess what?! That would increase too!

Cut back or pay it. Be grateful you have a choice!

Where's that then? Just paid £1.05 for two pints of milk in ours.

The trouble is we've blamed and shamed for so long.but these people have had no choice for so long to be feeding their families this crap.
Now like universal credit in lockdown we are suddenly noticing what shit people have to live through!

Personally I think a lot of supermarkets are ‘profiteering’. They’re putting up prices randomly and we have no knowledge of why something’s gone up by 20p or 30p or 75p. My guess is they’ll be raking it in and their fat cats will be getting fatter.

Food has been far too cheap in the UK for years. Lots of items stayed at the same low price for years

I’ve always noticed this too. Food prices in Western European countries with comparable wage seem much higher than the UK. Perhaps it’s because the “supermarket wars” in the UK is that much fiercer? The UK literally has about ten big players battling for your money which I’m not sure is that case in most other countries, where perhaps the big names are more regional, ie less direct competition?

Not in the UK but bought a water melon today, it was on special. Still it was £10.

@BellePeppa
i don’t think they’ll be raking it in at all, as people are tightening their belts and their supply costs are going up too. What they are doing of course is short term protect their profit margins and long term protect their net profits. One very good thing is that supermarket competition is so fierce in the UK - there’s not much room for pisstaking. People can clearly compare across competitors.

It was in the paper this morning lurpack is now £7 odds a tub! I will need to spread what I have left thinly!!!