The National Institute of Statistics is back to put numbers on a reality that Spaniards perceive every time they fill their fridge and pantry: the cost of purchasing is higher, especially at 13.8% in one yeara condition that recurs every month, has multiple causes, and has an uncertain future.
The data speaks clearly: most foods and soft drinks They were 13.8% more expensive in August Compared to the same month of 2021, there were notable increases in milk, cheese and eggs, meat, bread and cereals, the highest rate since January 1994 and 0.5% compared to July 2022.
Behind these increases are the increase in production costs (electricity, water, grain and diesel), weather conditions, the shortage of some raw materials due to drought, and international imbalances in the markets due to the Ukrainian war. .
Antonio Khalaf, commercial director of IRI consultancy Retail, emphasizes to Efe: It is impossible to calculate how long this rise will last. mainly linked to the cost of energy and shortages of raw materials due to the war.
“As long as energy costs continue to rise, companies will pass on it,” he says, so there are alternatives to cutting that cost or playing with tax rates.
The agri-food sector is very large and every sub-sector, including the most inflationary, shares this situation, but They also have their own casuistry.
milk
Annually, milk stars on top rise, 25.6%-but- a percentage that is less than the 38% increase in the price paid to the farmer for origin milk the previous month, said Luis Calabozo, executive director of the National Federation of Dairy Industries (Fenil), in July.
“The cost of milk, the basic raw material for producing dairy products, has increased further, and this, with some delay, unsustainable if not passed on to the consumer”Calabozo stressed.
With the rise in production costs starting in 2021, primary production began to suffer and was slow to cover costs, so in many cases farmers had to kill older cows – also registered worldwide – because the meat market was more profitable and this lack of production drove prices even higher. increased.
Liquid oil
Teresa Pérez, director of Olive Oil Interprofessional, explains this. olive oil became 13.2% more expensive in the last twelve months due to packaging and fuel prices in distribution.
In any case, this surge in oil was predictable after “abnormally low” prices two campaigns earlier, according to Pérez.
The oil produced in the next campaign increased by 13.2% as expected from the marketing from October, and the impact of the increase in production costs on the raw material is not yet fully understood.
Eggs
Continuous increases of up to 78% in animal feed raw materials, According to the employers’ organization Inprovo, the high cost of all inputs related to energy, transportation, packaging and egg production and marketing in general has led to an increase in egg prices.
industry is also added. immersed in the transition to cageless systemsmainly going from a conditioned cage to a floor system, which is a 18% to 20% increase in production costs.
In addition, there was a decline in egg imports in the EU (Ukraine represented 50% of the total) and the increase in exports, along with the effects of avian flu, which affected many laying hens, led to a decline. tensions in supply and therefore in the market.
grains
Inside reaction to the increase in CPI in “grains and derivatives” (+21.7%), José Manuel Álvarez, general secretary of the grain and oilseed traders association Accoe, justified the increase in raw material prices due to factors such as reduced supply due to weather conditions, the war in Ukraine or the war in the USA. Grain deficit, net importer of wheat and barley in Spain.
The president of the Accoe employers’ association highlighted “uncertainty” about the evolution of the market, although international forecasts predict a decline in harvests.
Chicken
Poultry has been meat that has become more expensive on an annual basis (+17.6%Jordi Montfort, general secretary of the Spanish Interprofessional Poultry Association (Avianza), explains to Efe why the high costs in raw materials and energy carried by the producers.
This increase in the retail price “insufficient to cover the costs of production” upsets the representative of this interprofessional organization.
In the future, he makes a prediction. complex winter It warns that the gas and electricity problem will remain, and warns against the risk of “product shortages if costs continue to be met”.