The older man walked a few steps into the store, grabbed exactly what he needed, and calmly walked back out the same way. Thanks to an observant customer, officers were able to quickly apprehend him. The loot: four five-liter bottles of extra virgin olive oil. Retail value 120 euros.
This man must have been desperate, thinks Zahira Erradi, owner of supermarket EFE Food in Javastraat in Amsterdam. On her phone she shows the camera images of the theft, recently in her shop. She has no doubt that the olive oil was intended for her own use. ‘Everything is becoming more expensive, people no longer know how to pay for their groceries. People are increasingly taking fruit outside and running away with it.’
That average prices in March were 12 percent higher than a year ago is no surprise in this supermarket in East Amsterdam. ’12 percent is not too bad for me,’ says Sadia el Aziz, the manager of EFE Food. Some products on the shelves around her have become 30 to 40 percent more expensive in recent weeks. Sunflower oil, El Aziz estimates, has doubled in price since the war in Ukraine.
Children warned
Inflation will hit Ramadan directly, customers and retailers in this street of a thousand and one shops said on Friday. The day before the fasting month is usually the time to stock up for when it is allowed to eat again after sunset. But Fatima Harousi has already warned her children that the menu will be less lavish than in previous years.
‘Now that chicken has become so expensive, I think we only eat it once a week. I make harira soup instead,” she says. Even though that Moroccan specialty has not become cheaper: the celery that last week still cost 1.25 euros at EFE, is now 25 cents more expensive.
Further down Javastraat, Abdel Ben Salah of supermarket Het Lange Mes thinks back almost melancholy to the time when before Ramadan there were rows thick in front of the refrigerated display cases and customers went home with kilos of chicken. ‘Chicken is important, children love it,’ he knows.
Only the chicken has risen so much in price that customers are less likely to put it in their basket during Ramadan. ‘During Ramadan you normally sell about three hundred chickens. Now I think only fifty.’ Due to the price increases, people will invite fewer guests at home during Ramadan, Ben Salah expects. ‘I hear everyone say: Ramadan is expensive this year.’
Expensive pistachio
Fortunately, the exchange rate of the Turkish lira is fairly stable, observes Üzeyir Karakis from behind a display case full of baklava. Although it is also a surprise to him every time how expensive the pistachio is that he imports from Turkey via Germany. Flour, sugar, sunflower oil and butter – equally indispensable ingredients in his patisserie Divan – are also becoming more and more expensive. Karakis does not know exactly why this is, although he believes that the increased fuel and energy prices certainly play a role.
With a heavy heart, he says he has no choice but to pass on the price increase to his customers. ‘Sometimes I feel ashamed when I have to explain that to poorer people. But we are a patisserie, I use one hundred percent pistachio and real butter. When I mix pistachio with food coloring and peanuts, or add margarine to the baklava, the customers notice it immediately. Then that will also cost me turnover.’
In addition, the stocks of everyday products are shrinking because of the war. Flour is hardly available, according to retailers, the trade association has already warned that the stock of sunflower oil in the Netherlands could be used up within a month. Ukraine is a major producer of vegetable oil.
Discussions with customers
Inflation is increasingly leading to discussions with customers, says El Aziz. According to her, some do not believe that the groceries have become more expensive due to the developments in Ukraine. ‘They think that we as shopkeepers profit from the war and deliberately make everything more expensive.’ Customer Harousi indeed has that doubt, she confesses. “If it’s because of the war, why are there such price differences on this street?”
If wholesalers raise prices, you can’t be left out as a retailer, says El Aziz. ‘You have to keep up with inflation to stay afloat. But I can’t say whether all retailers will survive these price increases. People have to make do with what they have in their wallet. And that will stop at some point.’
The recent example of the ancient olive oil thief is certainly not an isolated one, says Erradi. ‘People have lost their jobs during the corona period or do not receive help from the government in time.’ More and more people leave their shopping behind when they read the total amount on the cash register. “Sorry, but I don’t have enough money, they say.”