The war in Ukraine is pushing up consumer prices in Germany. Prices in German supermarkets continued to rise on Monday, and further price increases are being planned. The federal government has developed two bailout programs to deal with the sharp rise in energy prices. So far, however, there has been little that can be done about inflation in supermarket prices.
Not only are German customers currently having difficulty finding rapeseed oil and sunflower oil in supermarkets, but in a few weeks margarine and butter will also face price increases and supply bottlenecks due to a lack of raw materials: Aldi Süd, Aldi Nord, Lidl, Rewe or Edeka's cheapest brand butter will soon break through the 1.89 euro limit. During Easter, the price may rise again: the price of German butter may even break through the upper limit of 2.19 euros. In Germany, the cheapest butter price has never exceeded 2 euros, but it will now break through this price.
These products will be more expensive starting today
Starting today, it has been reported that the price of potato chips, sausages, canned food, chocolate, spreads and cheese in German supermarkets will also increase. Alnatura's hummus price, for example, rose by 60 cents. Cheap supermarkets' own brand of bell pepper potato chips rose by 10 cents. In fact, these two commodities had already undergone a round of price increases two weeks ago.
Cheese also needs to go up in price. Cheeses favored by German consumers, including Emmental, Gouda, Camembert and butter cheese, are going to increase in price. An Aldi insider reported that the current increase is so high that the cheapest bag of cheese will soon exceed the unit price of 2.39 euros. The current price is only 1.99 euros.
The government has no further bailout plans
The price expectation index of the Ifo Institute in Germany reached a high of 54.6 points. Ifo expert Timo Wollmershäuser said: "This means that inflation in Germany will rise above 5% this year, and the last time there was such a high inflation in Germany was 40 years ago." "In the food retail sector, the Ifo price expectation index is even as high as 94 points. This means that supermarket price inflation will be much higher than official inflation.
At present, German society is discussing many countermeasures. Economist Achim Truger, for example, called for a one-time distribution of food purchase rolls, similar to the now-established €300 energy subsidy.
But apart from the €270 heating allowance for housing grant recipients and the one-time additional benefit of €100 per child in German households, it is clear that the government has no more bailout plans in the short term. The federal labour ministry only said it would study further measures if there was an "additional burden" on the population. The Finance Minister replied: "The Government was guided by last week's decision. ”
What do customers need to be aware of?
Consumers should pay attention to special price information when shopping, but do not hoard, the purchase volume is enough for one month's consumption.
Choosing "Ja", "GUT Bio", "Penny", "Gut & Billig" and other supermarket own brand goods not only saves money, but in fact these products are also produced by well-known brands.
See if there are coupons and discount codes redeemed at specific times, which can usually be found on the shelves.
Many retailers also use apps to engage customers. For example, Lidl Plus and Netto Marken-Discount, whose apps not only offer discounts, but also regularly deliver free merchandise.