Food prices started to decrease a few weeks ago, or rather to approach normal, because most of the chains issue announcements about sales and price reductions, trumping each other. The Mandiner/Makronóm blog investigated whether the price reductions continued at the end of March and to what extent. In addition to cheese and butter, several staple foods, some vegetables and fruits, and meat products are also available at lower prices than the average prices of KSH in February.
Due to the increased energy prices due to the war and the failed Brussels sanctions policy, as well as last year's severe drought, the inflation that has been running high throughout Europe this year may have reached its peak here in January. Meanwhile, the large supermarket chains are competing with each other to announce their price reductions, thus reacting to their declining demand due to historically high prices. Although several measures - such as price caps or utility protection - have protected Hungarian families against the effects of inflation, everyone is still waiting for a significant reduction in inflation.
First, the price of Trappist cheese and tea butter began to fall in some large discount chains, so these products are typically 20-25 percent cheaper in most stores at the end of March, and in some places the difference is even greater compared to the average prices of the KSH in February. In addition, mainly due to sales, some vegetables and fruits, as well as meat products, are also available at lower prices in stores.
collected the prices of some of the most quoted and frequently purchased products in several stores, Spar, Penny, Tesco, Lidl, Auchan and Aldi On March 24-26, the Makronóm blog conducted its own in-store research of 25 staple foods selected in advance in the stores of six store chains in the capital, agglomeration (Gödöllő, Solymár and Budaörs) and rural (Hódmezővásárhely). between.
The journalists found the prices of red onions, apples, beets and dry pasta to be higher than in the February data collection by the CSO. This may partly be due to seasonality and the much narrower range of data collection locations.
Their results thus confirm the picture of the price reductions received from the press, although there were also significant differences for each product range, which cannot only be traced back to individual promotions.
In the case of baked goods, the data of the analyzed chains show a 20 percent price drop, but also a 30 percent drop in the case of dairy products, compared to the average prices of the KSH in February. In the case of vegetables and fruits, the picture is not so clear, here our data collection showed a price decrease in the case of potatoes, oranges and tomatoes, while a further price increase in the case of onions, apples and carrots. It is true that KSH also investigates markets, greengrocers and smaller shops, and in the analysis of the Makronóm blog, in the field of vegetables and fruits, chain stores with higher prices were usually included.
The situation was similar in the case of meat products, here too it depends on the product whether there was a price decrease or a price increase compared to the previous month. In the case of other foodstuffs, their data also showed a price drop, although here several products with price caps were also included in the scope of the investigation. The price of rice and mineral water has decreased, and - to the delight of many - beer as well. At the same time, dry pasta became more expensive in their investigation, while news about the price reduction of this product group had previously circulated in the press.
Author: Gábor Halaska
Read the full Mandiner article
Image: 123rf.com
