BUSINESS NEWS - Food inflation in South Africa is primarily caused by global developments and not domestic events. While consumers and farmers worry about the impact of the heavy rains on food inflation, they also have to consider that agricultural commodity prices were already elevated, paving the way for food inflation.
Higher food prices are evident in the monthly food basket survey of the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group for low-income consumers that shows that the price of the basket increased year-on-year by R349.82 (8.6%), from R4,051.20 in January 2021 to R4,401.02 in January 2022.
The prices of 15 of the 17 core foods in the basket increased, as well as 35 of the 44 items in the basket, with increases across the board.
Prices that increased the most from January 2021 to January 2022 were:
- Sugar beans (5 kg) increased by R16.02 (10%)
- Cooking oil (5 l) increased by R16.02 (30%)
- Frozen chicken portions (10 kg) increased by R53.76 (17%)
- Eggs (60) increased by R13.24 (13%)
- Gizzards (2 kg) increased by R15.63 (24%)
- Chicken livers (2 kg) increased by R9.58 (18%)
- Beef liver (2 kg) increased by R26.21 (37%)
- Beef (2 kg) increased by R18.60 (12%)
- Wors (2kg) increased by R14.36 (12%)
- Tomatoes (6 kg) increased by R37.58 (45%)
- Butternut (10 kg) increased by R18.66 (26%)
- Tinned pilchards (400g x 6) increased by R11.74 (10%)
- Polony (2.5kg) increased by R6.79 (13%).
While middle-income consumers have started to complain about the price of tomatoes, low-income consumers have to find another R349.82 in their wages to pay for these increases or just remove these nutritious foods from their baskets.
