Prices On The Rise

singhini

A friend of mine who's self employed in the food industry said he only had two choices, either put prices up and loose customers or make redundancies. He recons each employee will cost him about £2,000 more from April 2025
He recons: 
Minimum wage increase from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour is about £1,500 increase a year per employee (roughly £22k will become £23.5k)
Ontop of the £1,500 the employer needs to pay Employers NI and NI was at 13.8% but is now 15%
However the original salary i.e £22k will also be subject to the increased NI from 13.8% to 15% (not just the £1,500)
Since the wages are up from £22k to £23.5k the employer still needs to pay the minimum 3% into the employees company pension based on the higher amount 

He's got 4 employees plus him and his wife 
i said try to offer them a 4 day a week
He said but i hadn't taken price rises on the cost of goods into account (only the salary increase).

EDIT: He also said something about company tax had increased from 19% to 25% for some businesses recently aswell.

i wonder if the price rises we are seeing now will further increase from April/May ? (higher unemployment = low growth, lower spending, increased prices, reduced investment)

YorksLass

I'm finding I'm eating far less meat these days, partly due to the cost and partly because the quality isn't as good.  I'd love to use a local butcher but we don't have any.  Ditto bakery, greengrocer, fishmonger, so SM it is.  Within walking distance I have a largish Sainsburys, a small Co-op and an M&S food hall.  I don't drive so can't go further afield and, being a singleton, don't have the freezer space for bulk orders of meat, etc.  I think further price rises are inevitable - it's certainly a gloomy outlook - but I'll definitely be trying to keep the food budget as low as possible.  I've had plenty of practice over the years and am a competent cook so I'll not starve!  

Rosa_Damascena

Prices are definitely increasing.

Today I read an article indicating that a £5 cup of coffee out (even from a small supplier) because of the price of coffee, energy and staffing costs. There is no reason why supermarkets won't have the same issues so maybe its time to stock up now?

YorksLass

As I mentioned previously, my 100g jar of Kenco Rich coffee has gone up from £3.50 to £3.95 so I'm going to try the SM own brand Rich Roast that is £2.35 for 200g.  Hopefully it will be OK.

I also noticed that lambs liver that used to be somewhere in the region of £1.42 for approximately 454g (admittedly a while ago) is now £2.20 for the same amount.  It seems even cheap offal is no longer cheap.     

Soda crystals have seen a big price increase too.  Now £2 for 500g, used to be 80p.

I keep a notebook to record the prices of staples (not fresh F&V as this is seasonal and does obviously vary) and am constantly swapping items, sometimes a successful change but not always.  It's almost a full-time job keeping track!   

millie

If you have an Aldi nearby their Columbian coffee £2.25 for 100g is very good, even my picky brand faithfull sons buy it. Lidl do one the same

YorksLass

Thanks @millie - Sadly no Aldi or Lidl near me.  I know they keep opening new branches so one day maybe .....

YorksLass

Today I popped to our local Co-op for a few odds and ends and noticed their packs of fresh cod fillets have just gone up 50p.  I usually get two meals out of the pack but from now on will be stretching that to three meals and will add more veg to the plate.  Where there's a will .....

Rosa_Damascena

The latest Aldi marketing email tells me that their 200g blocks of flavoured cheese have gone down from £1.99 to £1.49.

Which I interpreted as being hiked up by 50p especially for Christmas!!

Rosa_Damascena

Everything does seem incredibly expensive these days! I'm surprised to see the impact it has had on me this year. I am buying a lot less and certainly eating very little. Everything adds up too quickly.