Families suffer as price of fruit and veg rockets 30%
BRITAIN’S dinner plate staple the potato has soared in price in the past year, it emerged yesterday.
The vegetable is among several popular fresh products which have shot up by nearly 30 per cent.[>
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Spuds have seen some of the steepest increases along with carrots and onions. The soaring cost of basic food ingredients will pile more pressure on household budgets this winter.[>
Warming mash, soups and stews will be more expensive to make.[>
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The findings from the food industry bible The Grocer come just a week after the Daily Express reported a 43 per cent jump in bread and butter prices.[>
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Kilogram bags of cheap spuds are 28.7 per cent more expensive than a year ago.[>
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Carrots bought loose are up 24.6 per cent and onions have risen 20.3 per cent.[>
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“Cooks who are fans of hearty soups and hot-pots have been worst hit by increases in fruit and vegetable prices over the past year with onions, carrots and potatoes all showing price increases of 20 to 30 per cent year-on-year,” The Grocer warns.[>
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A further setback for consumers committed to a healthy diet came yesterday with a study into the results of food labels signalling fat, salt and sugar content.[>
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Research for the Food Standards Agency found that labels only led to confusion.[>
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Depending on which supermarket they are in, shoppers face three separate systems providing a key to products’ ingredients. Consumers also find it hard to compare similar products with the rival label designs.[>
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Sue Duncan of the research panel said: “There are areas of confusion with all the front-of-pack labelling schemes.”[>
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As for making shopping choices, people in Britain eat their way through an average 94kg of potatoes each every year, according to industry body the Potato Council.[>
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Marketing director Kathryn Race said spuds were still a good option for shoppers compared to pasta or rice. “In the 12 week period to the end of July pasta prices have gone up 52 per cent, rice 23 per cent and potatoes seven per cent.[>
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“So for consumers when they are choosing what to buy in the supermarket when food prices are going up, potatoes still offer you best value for money,” she said.[>
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Fruit lovers have also seen their shopping bills increase compared to a year ago. White seedless grapes have shot up 16.9 per cent and oranges are up 16 per cent.[>
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Bananas have nudged up just 2.6 per cent as supermarkets fight to keep the popular fruit affordable. The Potato Council blamed rising food production costs combined with bad weather hitting supplies for the rising prices. Hefty hikes in fruit and veg prices are highlighted in the weekly survey produced by The Grocer to monitor the changing cost of fresh food in leading supermarkets. [>
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Shoppers trying to save money could try mushrooms and iceberg lettuces which are both the same price as last year.[>
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Broccoli has slumped by 25.9 per cent from last year’s very high prices, according to The Grocer.[>
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China and India are now the world’s biggest potato growing countries, with nearly one third of all spuds harvested in the two countries.[>
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The Food Standards Agency says at least one third of what we eat should be starchy food such as potatoes.[>
