Food prices hit record high in August

Necuno

Necuno

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Food prices hit record high in August
FOOD prices in South Africa's largest supermarkets hit record-high levels in August, Solidarity said today. "Solidarity's research shows that food prices have increased every month from January to May, that there was a slight decreasein the cost of some products in June," said the trade union's spokesman Jaco Kleynhans.

Most of these products' prices, he said, increased again in July, and prices reached record-high levels by August. In its research, the union bought basic products such as bread, milk, margarine and rice from Spar , Pick n Pay and Checkers. It found that Checkers was the most competitive amongst top supermarket groups in the country. "Our basket currently costs R175,73 at Checkers. At Pick n Pay our basket costs R181,43 and at Spar R197,22."

Food prices should have dropped as consumers look for the cheapest products during the recession. "A common trend in countries like the United States, Italy and Brazil was a drop in food prices during recession." However in South Africa, supermarket groups and food producers were abusing lower input costs to increase their profits, he said.

The trade union had as a result asked the Competition Commission to probe supermarket groups' rebate systems as part of its investigation into food prices. The union wanted consumers to protest against rising food prices

and would launch a website where consumers could complain directly to supermarkets.

"Solidarity is currently planning a campaign to put pressure on food producers and supermarket groups to pass on lower input costs in the production of food to consumers," said Kleynhans. He criticised supermarkets for "dark room dealings" as details about how they reached the final price remained a mystery.

"We need transparency in how they get to the final price. You can't, for example, sell a product for R20 while producers get R5 for the same product. They need to tell us how they get to that price," said Kleynhans.
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I really think the food retailers are taking us for a ride. The prices went up with the fuel and electric problems.. but they havent gone down since they went away? I think theyre cashing in on us.
 
w1z4rd said:
I really think the food retailers are taking us for a ride. The prices went up with the fuel and electric problems.. but they havent gone down since they went away? I think theyre cashing in on us.
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You think?

Of course this happens, when stuff like fuel goes up pricing goes up and we get told fuel has increased when fuels comes down 2 rand in 5 months we still get increases.

This country is so badly run because no half decent government would allow this to happen.

For instance i buy shirts from a supplier and when the rand hit 10 bucks they put up their pricing up as did many of my promo suppliers, when the rand pulled back 2 bucks they had their yearly price hike.

This country is so sick and sadly i think it was gary who mentioned that the people of this country are to blame because we just keep buying and buying.
 
The annoying thing is even if the CC finds them guilty as sin, they pay a fine and the prices remain the same to cover the fine :(
 
I for one would like to see what they bought and what the price was each and every month for each specific item.
I want to see how they screw us.

Our Spar is probably the worst and they ask these prices because they know it is convenient for us to shop there.
You either shop there, or
you go into Menlyn, search for parking, battle your way through the centre, pay R8 parking and leave, or
go out of your way to a decent Pick n Pay/Checkers.

To give you an idea.
White bread is about R9.50
Peppersteak pie now R11.00
2lt Coke is R14.00
Simba Chips at R9.99 for a 125g pack.
Margarine is about R4 to R5 more than Checkers.
Mince is R49.99/kg. Edit: not lean or extra lean. Normal mince.

Went to visit my parents(platteland) a few weekends ago and got just more than 5kg mince for R132.50 @ R24/kg. It was better quality and less fat than any supermarket here. At half the price.
 
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Not that prices havent skyrocketed recently but after paying UK prices for a couple of weeks I'm almost glad to be paying local rates again . . . almost. :o
 
Slootvreter said:
As opposed to what?
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Going to alternative cheaper goods.
Simple mate, South Africa gets screwed because we screw ourselves.

If you see Chips Ahoy for R14 and a No Name Chocolate Chip cookies for R10, we still buy Chips Ahoy. We just fuel the demand and hence prices still go up.
 
genetic said:
Pick 'n Pay is probably the worst with regards to food prices. :mad:

They should change thier slogan to Inspired by Fools
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Nah... Spar takes the prize when it comes to ripoffs.
Spar sells some mixed spice satches at R20 when you get the exact same spices for R5 at Fruit & Veg.
 
Boycotting would actually be a good option to drive food prices down if consumers could pull together.
Can you imagine the impact on Pick 'n Pay or Spar if everyone decided to not buy from them for 3-6 months and rather buy from Checkers?
I'd imagine that it would put an incredible amount of pressure on the management to drop prices in order to lure customers back.

Unfortunately this is South Africa - the land where no one works together and it's each man/woman for him/her self.
 
I was having this exact conversation about how Spar is such a ripoff! Makes me sick that they can steal from people the way they do. I'm sticking to Pick n Pay Claremont and Checkers.
 
If you want to talk about a rip off - Woolies is king in this department. I absolutely love the place but their prepared food is too expensive for my budget these days. I've sadly had to cut back on my Woolies addiction :( :D
 
Slootvreter said:
As opposed to what?
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I know that sloot and that was my argument with gary, that we cannot stop buying but the fact is we all just keep paying so the prices just keep climbing.

Bwana UK and SA are very different just because it is expensive in the UK does not automatically mean we should get ripped off.

We are being ripped off and as i have no knowledge of the UK so i am not sure if they are being ripped off or taxed to death on luxury goods.
 
I would love to see a boycott. This month we all boycott Pick and Pay... the next Checkers or Spar. We all post it on our FB profiles, e-mail etc. Get it noticed by the media, 702 etc.

We all buy our essentials at a small grocery store for the next few months. Or do without for a few months. It is amazing on how little you can actually live. Good time to lose some weight! :p

Cause them some real financial hurt!
 
Garyvdh said:
I would love to see a boycott. This month we all boycott Pick and Pay... the next Checkers or Spar. We all post it on our FB profiles, e-mail etc. Get it noticed by the media, 702 etc.

We all buy our essentials at a small grocery store for the next few months. Or do without for a few months. It is amazing on how little you can actually live. Good time to lose some weight! :p

Cause them some real financial hurt!
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;)
 
And it will go on and on until you stop bitching, get off your ass and do something about it.

Big business is SUPPOSED to screw us. That's the idea of a business, to make as much money as possible charging as much as possible for its products while people keep buying them. What, did you think SPAR was in it for welfare? You think Raymond Ackerman is a great big philanthropist who used his R 120 million paycheck to save pandas? No no, they're no different from you.

By complaining about food prices, you're just displaying your ignorance regarding enterprise and your laziness at improving your own damn circumstances.
 
Aeron: As consumers we can do very little about it - we all need food otherwise we'd die! That's why in real countries, regulators impose huge fines for price-fixing and/or force the chains to lower their prices. Ofcom (the UK telecoms regulator) did this with British Telecom.

However what happens here is that they get a fine, and nothing comes down. Remember that bread price debacle? I haven't seen the bread price come down at all.
 
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