The current energy price crisis is not only hitting gas households hard. An expensive shock is also looming in the supermarket. Many food prices could continue to rise. FOCUS online says what customers at Aldi, Lidl, Rewe, Edeka and Co. should be prepared for.
High inflation drives up prices. In the past seven months alone, more than 800 products in supermarkets and discounters have become more expensive. More than a third of the range was made more expensive in several stages within a very short time. And in the fall it could get even worse.
So far, energy suppliers have only passed on a fraction of the increased trading prices to the companies supplied with gas and electricity.
“That is likely to change in the coming months and lead to double-digit inflation rates,” says Timo Wollmershäuser, head of economic activity at the Institute for Economic Research (Ifo). According to a current survey by the institute, German companies want to increase their prices on a large scale. “Unfortunately, there is no sign of the wave of inflation coming to an end,” emphasizes the ifo head of economic activity.
The current producer price for milk in particular could become a major price driver in supermarkets in the coming weeks. Dairies paid more than 60 cents for a liter of milk on the commercial markets in September. In June, the milk price was ten cents lower. This is the result of official figures from the Central Milk Market Reporting (ZMB). The data are FOCUS online.
The current price development means that milk will probably become more expensive in the autumn. It could happen in the next few days and weeks.
Basically, everything depends on the discount giants Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord. Experience has shown that all supermarket chains and competitors such as Lidl, Penny or Netto Marken-Discount are based on Aldi’s milk prices.
Normally milk prices were adjusted every six months. In view of the difficult situation, the firm deviated from the fixed condition negotiations for milk at the beginning of May and the beginning of November.
If the price of milk rises, butter, yoghurt, cheese and other dairy products generally become more expensive in stages.
Consumers already have to pay more than 3.49 euros for branded butter. Kerrygold’s ‘Irish Butter’ peaked at €3.59 in supermarkets earlier this month. Although the price of butter had fallen recently, experience has shown that demand increases in winter, which drives up prices.
Cookies and Christmas treats are to blame. Industry experts believe that the butter price will easily scratch the 3.60 euro mark. It is rather unlikely that the butter will break through the 4 euro mark.
There is already a first indication that dairy products are becoming more expensive.
A few days ago, the price of yoghurt rose across the board.
Consumers sometimes have to pay 30 percent more for popular no-name and branded products. “Mild yoghurt” in a 500-gram pot rose from 75 cents to 95 cents at Aldi Süd. At Edeka, the cup from “Gut
Rewe sells the cheap “Ja” yoghurt for 95 cents. That’s a price increase of 20 cents. The four 150 gram square yoghurt cups no longer cost 99 cents at Penny, but 1.09 euros.
An Aldi insider explained that the price increase for yoghurt is primarily due to the increased packaging prices, which now have to be passed on to consumers.
