Have any of you checked your grocery receipts and noticed food prices seem to be going up?
I have!
For the most part, I’m not seeing major increases. Well, except for meat at the supermarket I regularly shop at, which went up about 25%, and ground beef hasn’t been available for several months now. The butcher can’t explain why it’s disappeared or why prices jumped like this. I know that’s not the case everywhere, and that increase isn’t typical. What I am consistently noticing are steady smaller increases.
I talked to a couple of people who work in wholesale food sales, who both told me that prices are “jumping” at the wholesale level. I’m always interested in the behind the scenes understanding of what’s going on, so I asked each of they could explain what is causing the prices to increase.
One didn’t know (but he told me if there was something I wanted, to buy more of it than I would usually buy to offset the ongoing price increases), but the other told me that shipping costs are dramatically rising, that costs have shipping containers have gone from less than $3000 for a load to several times that. Those shipping costs have to be passed on to the consumer, which means…higher food costs.
And that’s not affecting just food. A few weeks ago at the housewares store I spoke to the owner while I was checking out. Literally as I was at the checkout, they increased the price of my item by five shekels. When I asked why, they told me their shipping costs are rising and they are raising the prices on every item by five shekels.
Then a week later I went into one of my favorite nurseries, and noticed that plants that were 25 shekels the week before were now 37, and that every single plant had increased in cost. This time the owner was busy and I didn’t ask him why everything had gone up so much.
I found it interesting. But while the food wholesalers were very clear about their concern, increases take time to trickle down to the retail market, and maybe it’s not yet so noticeable that prices are moving up?
And this was also interesting – the US has announced that it will be increasing food stamp benefits by 25% on October 1. To me it seems that those making the decisions expect retail prices to rise and are preparing the recipients accordingly.
What does that mean practically? One super helpful strategy for keeping a food budget in check is buying the sales. If you have a freezer, you might want to buy some extra chicken or meat at today’s prices, which may be tomorrow’s sale prices. You might want to buy a bit more of the foods that you already eat, particularly those that are non-perishables. If the prices go up more, you’ll save money; if prices don’t move up any further (let’s hope!), you’ll still be eating the same groceries you would have eaten anyway!
I’m curious about if you’re seeing anything like this where you live. My impression is that prices are rising faster in other parts of the world than Israel. Have you noticed food increases, and if so, what kind of increases?
Avivah
In Rehovot, the taxi fares which used to cost 25 shekels were raised to 30 shekels.
Thank you for sharing that, Leah!
We have definitely seen prices rising; or rather package sizes shrinking while the prices stay the same! Inflation is definitely occurring and will probably get worse before it gets bettter.
Shrinkflation is a real thing!! Same size packaging, same prices, but less product. It’s an effective strategy to keep people from realizing how much prices are going up.
About inflation – agreed.
It’s not your imagination. Last week these pathetic, bruised looking avocados were going for 60 shekels a kilo! At that price, I’d rather have a good steak.
I know of a business person who made the choice to stop importing products since container prices jumped from 3k to 9k per container.
I went to a wholesale club last week and only bought food products. I was shocked when my bill was $100 dollars more than usual.
I’ve heard that container prices have gone even higher, up to 20K a container, and think we’re going to see many more businesses having to make hard choices.
Wow!! I saw plums for 25 shekels and thought it must be because it’s an overpriced small local store. Then I went to Yesh and saw that even there, the plums were 20 shekels.
While I definitely have seen a price increase, I’m wondering if the increase in price at the nursery was to offset it being closed during shmitta (assuming it’s a nursery that is closed during shmitta). Also, with regard to summer produce, my husband read an article that said that due to the unusually warm winter in Israel this year, many farmers has a very poor crop of peaches, plums, apricots, etc (avacado may even fall in this category, though I’m not certain), and that is why the astronomical prices of many types of summer fruit. I’m wondering if the prices will go down next summer if the crop is better, or if they will keep them raised if they know they can get away with it :))
Thanks for sharing the information about the poor stone crop fruit this year, Shoshana, I hadn’t heard that. It makes sense. I would expect the prices to go down when crops are better.
Of additional concern are the worldwide crop shortages of staples; that has many ramifications on the market in ways that a person doesn’t directly consider. For example, if the wheat/corn/soy crops are dramatically down, the animal feed costs go up. Then the farmers will have to charge more for their products, or cull their crops because their anticipated profit isn’t there. The price of all food that includes staple items – which is the majority of food items – will go up to offset these costs – and this is addition to the shipping issues I mentioned above. You can live without plums and peaches if the price is more than you want to pay, but you can’t live without the staples! I expect in the next couple of months this will be more visible.
Yes, I realize you were talking on a more global scale. And obviously people can live without summer fruit (though personally I enjoy it and look forward to it each year). My only reason for sharing was because I noticed the price jump to really jarring and some people might be happy hearing a direct explanation for this, even if it will change in the future.
I’m really glad you shared, and hope you didn’t feel I was minimizing your feedback!
(I can’t write directly about the extent of my concerns regarding this issue- another topic I referenced in my sheepdog article, so I was elucidating a bit more in the comments for the benefit of all readers, not only to you! I was thinking only half-jokingly that I should end certain posts המבין יבין, as a clue for readers to read carefully between the lines.)
Not sure if related but prices at our local car rental place, which we use infrequently, went up by about 25%. Not sure about bus fares, they seem to be steady.
Interesting! Gas prices are moving up, too.
I haven’t noticed a price increase on the packaged food items (probably wasn’t paying enough attention) but definitely noticed on the fruits and vegetables.
I wanted to buy some nice fruit for shabbos, so I went to a store with better quality produce and saw beautiful peaches.
I walked out feeling like I was carrying gold! I paid 30 shekel for 6 peaches!
At times like that, I say ‘lekovod Shabbos kodesh’ with more kavana!
Oh my goodness! I went to my “very fancy” butcher this morning in Los Angeles and the prices were up almost 30%! The owner was there and said he buys directly from the ranch and they raised prices due to the increased cost of grain and water. (We are in drought conditions here in the western US). The “trickle down” is in full effect here in Southern California. As we all know the end result will always be an increase to the consumer. It was so interesting to come home and read this blog post.