More meat and eggs, but less olive oil. Spanish households have not been slow to react to the fluctuations in the prices of the shopping basket and, given the general increase in the price of basic foods in the last year (despite the reduced VAT that most of them have), consumers have responded as one might imagine: purchases of olive oil have plummeted by more than 34% in one year, while that of sunflowerwhich has become one of its most affordable alternatives, it has sold 20.9% more.
The latest data on food consumption at home, published this week by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food show, however, that the level of food and beverage purchases It stabilized last November, with 0.4% more volume compared to the same month in 2022, despite the fact that the increase in the average price of 7% led to spending 7.4% more.
Along with the foreseeable drop in olive oil, also the bread consumption (-3.1%) and that of Fresh fruits (-2.2%) fell in households until November 2023, the last month for which data is available, although on the other hand it increased especially in meat (+10.3%) and that of eggs (+6.3%). Among the first, the chickenwhich sold 16.75% more, followed by pigwith an increase of 14.44% and, finally, by veal, with a 4.2% increase. The one of lamb followed the trend of recent years and registered a new decrease, this time of 28.62%, according to ministry data.
“Chicken and other poultry production has normalized thanks to the decrease in the price of cereals and that has allowed the prices of these meats to now be somewhat more affordable,” explains Josep Capdevila, wholesaler in Mercabarna and member of the Catalan Academy. of Gastronomy and Nutrition. This, despite the fact that the meat sector is one of those that does not benefit from the VAT discount applied by the Government.
Ukrainian grain
Chicken, like pork and beef, have been able to reduce their prices thanks, among other things, to the massive influx of grain from Ukraine, which has, in turn, lowered the prices of the feed that the animals eat, which usually live in stables or on farms. A separate chapter is the lamb, which unlike other cattle, is fed in the open field. “There is very little sheep this year and it is expensive, because of the drought,” acknowledged a few weeks ago Martí Colomer, spokesperson for the sector in the Gremi de Majoristes de Mercabarna.
Bananas and kiwis resist, tangerines fall
The fresh fruit lost importance in the shopping basket last November, and although banana and kiwi consumption increased, that increase was not enough to compensate for the fall experienced by oranges, tangerines, apples and pears, according to data collected by Agriculture. Thus, in the calculation of the last year, the fruit registered a decrease in consumption of 2.24%, despite the fact that its price remained quite stable.
Purchases of fresh vegetables, in this case by 3.65%. There were products like tomatothe lettuce and the Peppers that registered significant declines. Specifically, 8.0% for the first, 5.7% for the second and 7.6% for the third. And although the cabbage sales grew 2.7%, the 12.2% decrease in green beans had a lot of weight.
November softens the fall of the fish
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The month of November gave a respite for fishermen and fishmongers, with a growth in the purchase of seafood products of 3.6%. The rebound helped, to a certain extent, to alleviate the situation of a sector that, in the last year, has had a cglobal consumption contraction of 4.0%both fresh and frozen fish (2.3%), as well as shellfish, mollusks and crustaceans (8.6%) and canned foods (2.4%).
Another product that continues to accumulate consumer losses is dairy, both milk and its derivatives. The first fell by 1.13% between November 2022 and November 2023, while derivatives, including yogurt, lost 0.98%. On the other hand, and despite the fact that prices in the international market have reached record levels, the sugar has increased its consumptionby 3.34%.