Increases of 33% in seed oils, 15% in olive oil, 10% in baby foods

By George Lampiris

Market effects, and increases that have occurred in recent times, more intense mainly in products such as seed oils with 33%, olive oil with more than 15%, sauces with 11.5% and baby foods with 10%, due to of the manifestation of inflationary pressures in Greece from the second half of the year onwards.

Specifically, inflation from negative levels in early 2021, but also previously in 2020 and during 2019, reached 3.4% in October this year. The change from the deflationary trends of 2019 and 2020 that lasted until 2021, began to appear from the middle of this year.

The change in inflation started in the third quarter of 2021 and with a rate increase of average prices by 2% and the market to increase the volume of consumption to the level of 5%. The third quarter showed a controlled inflation at the same time as an increase in consumption.

October began to differentiate with an average increase in supermarket prices to 1% and a parallel stabilization of sales volume, according to data from Nielsen IQ. However, the wider inflation of 3.4% last October may to some extent affect the consumption in the supermarkets, with the consumer holding back his purchases so that he can pay the bills and the value of the gas at the gas station, as mentioned in the box. of the IELKA conference Vaios Dimoragas, CEO of Nielsen IQ.

At + 2% of total sales in supermarkets

At the same time, based on data from the Nielsen IQ measuring company at our disposal, in the week ended on November 7, sales in supermarkets nationwide for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) fell by 3.9%, which can capture the restrained attitude of the consumer public in order to save money for the repayment of other obligations.

Overall, however, the market value of supermarkets from January 1st to November 7th was 7.83 billion euros in sales, compared to 7.68 billion euros last year, an increase of 2% based on the Nielsen IQ record. , while everything shows that the whole of 2021 will move upwards, despite the fact that the year of comparison is 2020, when the whole market was closed and everyone gathered for their purchases in the supermarkets, leading, among other things, to panic markets. It should be noted that in the above data Nielsen IQ also counts the electronic supermarkets.

In terms of food and beverages at the level of twelve months had inflation until the end of October 2021, while in October the picture in terms of average prices shows that consumption continues to grow by about 1%, accompanied by a slight increase in the selling price.

It is interesting to note that after a significant period of time, when private label products showed a decline in shares, from July 2021 onwards they show a gradual growth, which is in line with the gradual decline of promotions in food and beverages, which is also interpreted in part as an attempt by industries and retailers to cope with the increased costs, thus rationalizing the promotional activity.

The food categories with the largest average price increase in the third quarter of 2021 were:

– Food and beverages total: 2.1%
– Seed oils: 33.9%
– Olive oil: 15.6%
– Sauces: 11.5%
– Baby food and desserts: 10.1%
– Coffee capsules: 9.3%
– Frozen vegetables: 8.3%
– Skewer pies: 7.4%
– Pet food: 7.1%
– Ice cream: 7.1%
– Wines: 7%

Balancing sales of personal care products in supermarkets

In the personal care products sector, which grew by 4.2% over the whole of last year and even more strongly at the beginning of 2020 due to the pandemic, then showed signs of balancing due to the prioritization over other more necessary products than consumers. This category fell by -8.4% in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the corresponding first quarter of 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic in Greece.

Then the category of personal care products moved up in the second quarter with 5.4% and in the third with 4.8% compared to the corresponding periods last year and despite the appearance of inflation in the third quarter of this year. However, this supercategory of fast goods decreased by 2.2% last October. Based on this declining result, there seems to be a further de-prioritization of these categories not necessarily inside the supermarket, but outside of it, due to inflation.

The non-food categories in supermarkets with the highest average price increase in the third quarter of 2021:

– Total personal care products: 2.1%
– Cosmetics: 13.8%
– Lip lubricants: 9.4%
– Cotton products: 8.3%

A drop of -3.8% in home care items in October 2021

In terms of home care products, one of the three major categories of fast-moving consumer goods that gained more sales (+ 11.9%) than any other category within the pandemic, also showed the largest sales rationalization in 2021. Here there were slight inflationary trends within 2020, while the deflationary trend of the first half of 2021 continues in October, as an attempt to keep sales at 2020 levels, something that in the tenth month of the year does not seem to be achieved as the fall in sales of this category amounted to 3 , 8%.