Brexit grocery bill inflation

Primrose

Following the recent "Marmite" fuss with UK manufactured food products being threatened with large price increases, what overseas produced food products , if any, will you be stocking up with to protect yourself against price inflation?

Wine will obviously be on our shopping list, as will supplies of Olive oil althiugh I suspect most people will find it hard to survive on UK domestically produced foodstuffs which will doubtless suffer a similar price increase fate, whether it is justified or not.

Slowly57

As always, a lot of things will come down to 'what the market will stand'. It will be interesting to see how Aldy and Liddle will react https://www.retaildetail.eu/en/news/food/aldi-and-lidl-benefit-brexit

Pundits are forecasting pain in the New Year (mustn't upset the Christmas spend she said cynically). Profiteering will go on no doubt - and as fuel costs rise - there's that to add on too.

I'm trying hard to break the hoarding habit. So personally, when prices go up - we'll be even more choosy about what we buy and where we buy it from. More inclined to buy less of better quality and looking at value for money in every sense. We are lucky enough to be able to afford to pick and choose - I worry for those up against it financially and on a very limited budget.

[Deleted User]

Not wine for us we make our own cider! I can't think of anything I'd panic about not having, we grow most of our own fruit and veg, I make most things like jam, chutney, pickles etc. I guess I'd miss tea and coffee if they were in short supply and not being able to access sugar for the preserving would be an inconvenience as would be limited availability of flour for bread.

Primrose

Slowly, I suspect you are right about the big retailers not wanting to upset their Christmas sales markets and that the full force of any increases won't hit consumers until the New Year.
As an older contributor to the forum I remember how this country was forced to rely on home produced foodstuffs during World War II . I'm not suggesting we would want to forfeit the benefits of foreign produced foodstuffs but I can't help wondering why we should be buying continental cabbages and the like in our supermarkets when our British farmers are perfectly capable of growing such products.

Many years ago there was a "Buy British" campaign. Maybe we should all inspect our supermarket labels more carefully going forward for country of origin and start demanding our supermarkets source more British produced products. Apart from fuel and tranport costs, that might give the manufacturers and supermarkets less excuse for a blanket inflation of their prices.

westcoastscot

Hi Primrose, interesting thread! For me I shall be keeping an eye on tea, coffee, oil, sugar, flour, rice, oats and vegan margarine. Those are the staples of my pantry and the backbone of our diet. We purchase locally fish, meat, veg, fruit and grow a bit of our own too, so not as concerned about these although I'm sure prices will rise as well. We don't have a lot of choice about where we shop here, but shall resume my price book for when I'm in the city.

As you I'm quite concerned about those with less flexibility in their budget - life is almost certainly going to get tougher, at least in the interim.

Slowly57

Primrose wrote: »

Many years ago there was a "Buy British" campaign. Maybe we should all inspect our supermarket labels more carefully going forward for country of origin and start demanding our supermarkets source more British produced products. Apart from fuel and tranport costs, that might give the manufacturers and supermarkets less excuse for a blanket inflation of their prices.

I have access to a farm shop that delivers local produce. A little pricier (pence) - but it is great quality stuff that keeps well. I can buy just what I need (so not stuck with a kilo of something I don't want all of). I have a local milkman - my milk is deffo more expensive than supermarket milk - but cheaper than going to a supermarket to buy it!

I consider myself very lucky to be able to choose to do both. It's amazing/disturbing how folks have got used to eating food year-round instead of seasonally.

FrugalinShropshire

We have good access to local meat, veg and dairy here. We have a small yet expanding veg patch, mini orchard, fruit bushes and a few hens BUT I would miss tea and chocolate. I try and buy British beet sugar rather than cane sugar. I have just sourced some local quinoa which I love. I suppose non food stuffs like cotton could be affected.

thriftwizard

Price rises have already hit the street markets, and combined with the end of the summer season that has already impacted on our household budget & contributed to me missing my October Grocery Challenge target. Markets are at the sharp end; individual traders can't absorb price rises for a bit like the supermarkets can & will.

We're lucky enough to be on the edge between town & country here & I'm usually able to get high-quality local produce at very reasonable prices, as well as going out foraging at this time of year. That food will still be there, but I suspect there'll be more people in search of it, which will impact on availability and prices. We do grow fruit & herbs & keep a handful of chickens (currently 5 bantams & 6 big girls) to keep us in eggs, and we do a fair bit of preserving & fermenting as well as freezing and drying stuff, and by & large we can do without most imports - except the delightful "Paraguayos" or flat Spanish peaches, of course...

Effective storage is going to be key; without hoarding, the ability to store food when it's cheap to be used when it isn't. I already have a system for keeping track of what I've got, replacing things & rotating my stocks so that the oldest items get used up first. But for me, tea, coffee, spices, dried beans, raisins, bananas & satsumas are the things that I will work hard to continue to be able to afford! And if Scotland chooses to leave the Union as a result of Brexit, I'll have to pay a fair bit more for my sacks of oats...

VfM4meplse

I accept that prices are going to go up, I don't buy processed food but it will be a shame that I might have to start watching how much fruit, veg and dairy I buy.

just_trying

I've noticed in my lidl prices have gone up, only slightly but gone up. Butter is now 80p was about 70p, yoghurt etc.

Along with veg and fruit but only pennies but could make a difference to some.

baroley

I am doing my Lid* shop today, and although I will not go crazy, I will stock up on staples, tea, oats, butter, etc. Not that this will help a great deal in the long run, but might provide a bit of a cushion for the coming months. Because of this I will be spending more on groceries this month, but just store cupboard items.