The surge in prices has hit households hard, especially when it comes to staple foods. A study by Facua-Consumidores en Acción shows that food costs rose the most over the past year, even after a temporary VAT cut was applied. The analysis compared January 2023 prices across thirty food categories with current discounts and January 2024 prices, revealing notable increases. For instance, a 500-gram tray of strawberries shows a clear price awareness alongside olive oil, while a 5-pound bag of potatoes is noticeably higher as well.
Rapidly rising costs have influenced consumer behavior, with olive oil consumption dropping by nearly a third in the last year. Among the thirty retailers surveyed, including Alcampo, Aldi, Carrefour, Dia, Eroski, Hipercor, Lidl, and Mercadona, price movements varied. In many cases, increases observed at the point of sale exceeded those recorded at the origin, signaling markup practices that outpaced producer costs.
Facua has shared these findings with the Ministry overseeing Social Rights, Consumption, and the 2023 Agenda, calling for continued oversight. The aim is to scrutinize margins and enforce sanctions on firms that elevate profits in a sector where VAT relief is intended to help consumers. The report points to olive oil as the standout product, recording the highest one-year price rise on average in supermarkets for extra virgin varieties, with some instances reaching spikes well above the average.
Origin prices for extra virgin olive oil hovered around 2.54 euros per liter, up from 4.91 euros previously, while shelf prices varied by packaging and retailer, contributing to an overall rise in the category. One-liter packs of specific brands at certain stores surged markedly, with some cases showing increases of nearly nine euros per liter across formats.
In contrast, sunflower oil showed a notable decline, with average prices falling from 2.82 euros per liter in January 2023 to 2.00 euros in January 2024. This drop followed a period of volatility linked to global events. Within the same period, 500-gram strawberry trays generally rose by double-digit percentages, fluctuating from roughly 3.6 to 5.99 euros depending on the retailer, pushing unit costs to around 4 euros per kilo in some cases.
Potatoes, particularly a five-kilogram bag, climbed by about one-third over the year, moving from roughly 4.93 euros to around 6.48 euros. The origin price for a kilo of potatoes remained near 0.41 euros in both January 2023 and January 2024, yet retail prices showed a broader uplift, with some chains increasing by up to sixty cents per kilo compared to the prior year.
Among fruits, apples saw substantial shifts as Fuji varieties rose about 27.6% on average. Some chains registered steeper gains, while others posted milder changes. Retail prices for Fuji apples rose more than half a euro per kilo in certain stores, even as origin prices moved just a few cents per kilo.
Vegetables showed broad increases as well. Carrots, for instance, averaged a 26.2% rise per kilo year over year, with only one chain recording a slight dip. Farmers’ payments remained stable for carrots, yet consumer prices at the shelf were notably higher in most outlets. Mushroom trays in the 250–300 gram range climbed roughly 16% on average, with some stores surging well above the broader trend while origin prices moved only slightly.
Onions followed a similar pattern, with supermarket prices up about 15% on average. The rise at the origin was modest, but retailers pushed the cost higher, especially in larger chains. Across fifteen fruits and vegetables, lemons stood out as the rare food that became cheaper in January 2024 compared with a year earlier. The lemon price per kilo declined slightly, even as origin costs also fell.
Lentils and pasta among the few staples with smaller gains
Within legumes, pardina lentils led the increases, rising roughly 15% over the year, moving from about 3.10 euros to 3.57 euros per kilo. Retailers added about 47 cents per kilo, while origin prices dipped by a cent, illustrating the gap between supplier costs and consumer receipts in the marketplace.
Chickpeas, by contrast, showed a modest drop of about 5% year over year, with market prices easing from around 2.56 to 2.43 euros per kilo. The farmer price for lentils remained nearly flat, highlighting how producer payments can diverge from finished goods prices.
The 500-gram pasta segment rose by roughly 10% in a year, moving from about 1.27 euros to 1.40 euros, while a one-kilogram package of spaghetti rose a bit more, at around 5.3%. The strongest increases appeared in private-brand lines, such as the Alcampo package, which jumped by over 22% in some cases.
Milk costs also edged higher, with whole milk prices nudging up by nearly 3% and semi-skimmed milk gaining around 4% since January 2023. The price of white beans rose by about 7.5% per kilo, reflecting ongoing shifts in staple food pricing.
Rice displayed a similar trend, with a one-kilo bag increasing by roughly 6.7% over the year. The Sabroz brand from Hipercor, in particular, recorded a price spike of about 53% since January 2023, while Carrefour and Hipercor showed substantial rises as well. Brown rice, meanwhile, drifted downward by around 8% in the same period.
Eggs, a daily staple, saw modest changes; a dozen eggs rose a few percentage points, while pre-grated cheeses showed mixed movements across brands. In some stores, cheese baskets carried a higher price tag than a year ago, while at others the listed price was lower by small margins.