In lidl...brocilli, cucumber and tomatoes are99p,

[malificent7]

That is an increase from.around 70p a few weeks ago. In lidl. Very concerning. Anyone else noticed?

Broccoli is grown all year round across Europe- a lot of it now in the shops is from Spain.

The UK grown sort is more plentiful in autumn.

For reference I saw a bag of purple sprouting broccoli in Waitrose for £2.99 so your 99p is cheap- assuming that's one' head (it's actually calabrese not broccoli.)

Broccoli is harvested from early autumn (I've grown it at home.)

Most in the shops now is imported.

The uk food security is not good. We import between 40% and 48% of food consumed so we are subject to market forces. Sellers will sell to those prepared to pay higher prices

Same for Spain. It can be cheaper to buy something specific, but definitely not for the weekly shop! (I am from Spain and I was surprised whenI arrived in the UK how cheap some things could be). Also, the 'reduce to clear' concept doesn't exist, they don't reduce anything at the end of the day and they throw it away!

We got some really nice cavelo Nero in aldi yesterday for 95p. It wasn't reduced - that was just the price. I did notice their celery sticks were a few pence more expensive than Tesco though (99p and 90p respectively). Maybe basics in the low cost supermarkets are about the same as other supermarkets at the moment, but the fancier stuff isn't?

We are there every month and our Spain shop is deffo cheaper for us. We go to Mercadona

Agree. We need to start producing most of our own food and energy. Both individual households and as a nation.

It makes no sense economically, environmentally or even politically to import so much.

OP, food prices just seem to be going up every week. And rarely seem to go down, e.g. when in season in UK.

We often stay at a BiL’s place not far from Dijon, and food prices (from the local Tesco equivalent, not upmarket organic) have always been higher than at home. Two or three years ago I paid €4 for a cauliflower. And same as the U.K., prices have soared there recently - just a couple of weeks ago a neighbour was complaining bitterly about her spiralling food bill.

Everyone seems to want to back the farmers until they have to have reasonable prices for their produce.

Lidl have options - sell at a price some find too high , don't make the right amount of profit , or not sell at all

I wouldn't be buying cucumbers and tomatoes at this time of year - they are bound to be expensive

Broccoli has been hit by climate problems , like coffee and chocolate

Rising food costs are here to stay as the climate changes

And yes farmers deserve a fair pay for their goods

Sorry, but I beg to differ. I live part time in the UK and part time in Spain and buying food in Spain is much more expensive. I’m a Lidl shopper at home and a full trolly costs way less than it does in Mercadona. Certain things such as alcohol are a lot cheaper in Spain but not much else is. Electricity prices are also higher.
The Spanish way of cooking is different, ie less meat, more fish. What meat that is used is made to go further, but if you want an English diet when in Spain then you will be paying a lot more.
We eat very much a Mediterranean diet both at home and in Spain and the cost is definitely higher in Spain.

It's a seasonal thing - the March to May 'starvation window' - it's natural. The seasons happen every year.

What's unnatural is the vast range of out-of-season produce that we can buy. Be grateful you can buy anything that hasn't been stored over winter.

Food security and food self-sufficiency are not the same thing. In particular, due to our climate, the UK would find it very hard to be self-sufficient in vegetables and could not be self-sufficient in fruit. The supply of both though is secure and stable. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-food-security-index-2024/uk-food-security-index-2024

I have always thought that Aldi and Lidl fresh food prices are a bit of a con, and I was using Aldi 45 years ago! When I've bought in Waitrose, often reduced, I have found that the food keeps far longer than the so-called budget supermarkets, I've lost count of the number of cucumbers that have gone rotten quickly.

I think a lot of people have been conned/conned themselves into thinking that berries are healthy and a necessity at all times of year.

They aren't a necessity, they are a luxury. This time of year raspberries, strawberries etc just taste like cotton wool.

When people picked their own berries of course they knew what was in season. They would assume anyone demanding raspberries in February was a loon (UK).

The more of us who go back to buying seasonal fruit and veg the better. It is better for the planet and better for our food security as a country. We are very vulnerable on that front and it isn't a good thing.

I know it isn't the point of the thread and I'll get shouted at that some people don't have gardens but as well as buying seasonally and locally, if everyone just planted a few things it would make an enormous difference. Literally anyone can put an old potato that has started sprouting and gone soft into a bucket of mud rather than throwing it in the bin. A few months later you've turned one potato into ten. Potatoes will grow anywhere. I regularly get them in my compost bin which have grown from peelings.

Of course you can't only eat potatoes but if you no longer have to buy as many potatoes you have more money to spend on things you can't grow easily in this country.

Supermarket herbs are another. Spend £1 on a pot, split it into six so that it doesn't die due to overcrowding, stick it on the windowsill and you'll have fresh herbs all year round.

They aren't a necessity, they are a luxury. This time of year raspberries, strawberries etc just taste like cotton wool.

No they don’t, they’re grown somewhere sunny it makes not odds what time of year it is.

Not to mention those tasteless little baby corn on the cobs, flown in from e.g. Thailand.

Exactly the same set-up here (except with wine) with the monthly "OMG I can't do this any more!" Aldi shop. And then I get lazy the following week and order Tesco on the app (waiting in for them right now, in fact..).

The UK food prices really really aren’t the lowest in the world. Italy, Spain and France are cheaper for a start, especially fruit and veg which is largely fresher, better quality, and with more variety too

Yes and everyone ignores that we pay a lot more for other expenses.

My cucumber delivered from Morrisons yesterday was 89p- £1 is definitely overpriced!

The U.K. strawberry season is much longer now than it used to be. Dh really likes them on his cereal, but is strictly not allowed to buy any that aren’t U.K. grown! Recently I’ve bought him bags of frozen summer fruits - he just needs to remember to get some out of the freezer the night before.

@JudgeJ not in the UK you weren't, Aldi have only been here for 35 years

I was still getting strawberries from the garden in early November last year