Private label muffins, oil or pardina lentils: How much has the price of supermarket purchases risen? | Economy

If someone bought a bag of cupcakes from Hacendado today, they would pay more than twice as much as they did six months ago. Carrefour pardina lentils have risen 64 cents since October, to 1.99 euros; and in Dia, a liter of sunflower oil is on track to cost triple what it was then. These are three examples of a general increase in prices, by qualities and by supermarkets.

For a household with children, the price of the shopping cart has risen around 12% for purchases with private label items (30 euros) and 9% if they are manufacturer products (23 euros). It is the first result of an analysis carried out by EL PAÍS with data from the company data marketwhich collects prices of 35,000 products from three Spanish supermarkets (Dia, Mercadona and Carrefour).

These data reflect a general rise in households of all kinds. To see it, some carts have been created with purchases that could be made by a retired person, a couple, a student or a family with children. In the student’s basket there are frozen pizzas, for example, while in that of a family with children, diapers have been included. At the end of the article you can check the composition of each cart and the evolution of the price of each product.

A great purchase for our family with children, which cost 319 euros in October, now costs 349, 9% more. With private label products it rises from 188 to 211 euros. The price increase is similar for all cars, between 9% and 15% depending on the household.

He knows in depth all the sides of the coin.

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The increase with private label products is higher in percentage, although not in absolute value. It is normal, because they are generally cheaper and an increase in the fixed cost —such as that produced by the increase in energy prices— will be more noticeable in them. “These rises caused by external factors tend to move in X cents per unit of product. As private label products are cheaper than manufacturer brand products, that same rise implies a higher percentage”, they confirm from the OCU.

In all the aisles of the supermarket, the perfect storm of the current price increase can be seen: raw materials and energy are rising, and there are logistical and supply problems due to the war. However, some categories and products are skyrocketing.

Legumes are the category of the basket that rises the most. The Castilian lentils from Dia or the pardinas from Mercadona have increased their prices by almost 50%: a package that was worth 1.40 euros six months ago now costs 2.10 euros. With the war in Ukraine, chickpeas have also risen, although not cooked legumes, which have been stable at the same price for some time.

Another very strong rise has been that of sunflower oil, which is on its way to costing the same as olive oil. Since March, it has been involved in an intense escalation that has doubled its prices in the three supermarkets. The rise coincides with the invasion of Ukraine, which was one of the main producers of these seeds. It also seems that some brands have stopped selling these days.

The increase in the price of olive oil has been less, although the three supermarkets raised their prices twice, around March 9 and 16.

Another intense increase has been that of Hacendado’s cupcakes, which have gone from costing one euro to 2.60. Palmeritas, cupcakes and biscuits are also more expensive, all products whose ingredients include oils and flours. In addition, it is clear that the prices of products that started from a lower price have increased more.

Check the upload of each product

The following search engine shows the evolution of the price of each of the products that appear in our eight shopping carts. The composition of the cars is shown below.

Methodology

All data comes from the company data market, which has compiled the evolution of the prices of 35,000 products for sale in three Spanish supermarkets (Dia, Mercadona and Carrefour). The different carts have been created by choosing certain quantities of dozens of products (between 52 and 76 depending on the case) in 18 categories. The price of each product on each day is an average of its price in the supermarkets that sell it.

The composition of the type carts for each family is detailed below. The category unique* contains those products for which there is only one option from either of the two ranges (brand or private label).