ARCHIVED - Spain considers price cap on essential food items to cut costs
The price of grocery staples like milk, eggs and bread has shot up in Spain in recent months
The increase in the price of grocery staples has hit most pockets hard, with families across Spain now paying at least a few hundred euros more per year for their shopping. With this in mind, Vice President Yolanda Díaz has announced her intention to meet with the Minister of Consumption and the large retailers to set a “basic, absolutely legal” price cap on supermarket items “that does not violate competition law”.
Her idea is to set a maximum price ceiling for around 20 or 30 common household products, including food items, to make shopping more affordable for the average family.
Which items have increased the most?
Hundreds of products have either gone up in price in recent months or suffered from so-called ‘shrinkflation’ – where companies charge the same for a smaller amount.
Flour and cereals have undoubtedly been hardest hit since the Russian invasion; Ukraine, considered the breadbasket of Europe, has increased the cost of its exports by more than 30%. Hot on their heels are eggs and milk, the prices of which have jumped by 20% and 16% respectively, to the extent that a few months ago supermarkets reported running out of certain dairy products as consumers scrambled to clear the shelves.
Pasta, made mainly from wheat, increased its price by 14.7%, while olive oil, potatoes and poultry increased by just over 12%.
Bread was one of the first items to experience the price hike after the Ukraine invasion, shooting up by 11%, followed by fresh fruit and vegetables and fish (+10.5%).
Ms Díaz hasn’t confirmed yet which items in particular she plans on tackling, but on her Twitter feed she hinted at bread, eggs, milk and oranges.
Image: Archive
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