Inflation: These are the foods with the strongest price increases

Ein Vier-Jahres-Vergleich zeigt: Verbraucher müssen beim Einkaufen deutlich tiefer in die Tasche. Die Produkte sind um bis zu 112 Prozent teurer geworden. Branchenkenner sind den Ursachen auf den Grund gegangen.

08. September 2024 um 18:03 UhrBonn

Ein Artikel von

Alexander Bögelein

Inflation: ARCHIVE - 11.04.2024, Baden-Württemberg, Eßlingen: A consumer holds a receipt in his hand after shopping in a supermarket. (to dpa: — Going to the supermarket has become significantly more expensive. However, the monthly inflation rate from the Federal Statistical Office no longer reflects this because statisticians only compare current prices with the same period last year.

Bernd Weissbrod/dpa

According to the Federal Statistical Office, in July 2024, food and non-alcoholic beverages were on average more than 32 percent more expensive than four years ago. There are numerous reasons for this, such as the effects of the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine, climate change and rising costs for raw materials, energy and personnel. An overview of the foods for which the test buyers registered the largest price increases since July 2020:

1st place on the negative list: Price of olive oil has more than doubled

In July, consumers had to pay 112.6 percent more for a bottle of olive oil than they did four years ago. “The most important reason is the collapse in production in the most important producing country, Spain, in the 2022/23 financial year,” says Thomas Els, head of consumer research at the Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI). There has been only a slight recovery in the current harvest season. The reason is poor harvests due to droughts.

Second place: Sugar has become 83 percent more expensive

Sugar is also significantly more expensive than it was in 2020. The price development is shaped by supply concerns on the global sugar market and has also affected prices in Germany, says Els. “Prices reached a record level as early as 2022, and the upward trend continued in 2023.” Another reason is the lower sugar content in sugar beet due to the wet weather, says food expert Jana Fischer from the Hamburg Consumer Advice Center.

Third place: Cookies cost 77 percent more

Difficult times for those with a sweet tooth: Due to rising prices for raw materials such as sugar, flour and fats, biscuits have become considerably more expensive. “The wheat harvest was lower in Germany both last year and this year due to wet weather,” says Fischer. The price of wheat flour was therefore significantly higher in July 2024 (+61.5) than four years previously. Another reason for the increase was after the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are among the most important grain exporters in the world. The developments are also affecting the prices of crispbread and rusks (+66.4).

The prices for dairy products such as quark have risen significantly. Smaller milk volumes than in previous years and a lower fat content in raw milk led to rising producer prices in 2021/2022, which then fell again. Since the beginning of 2024, there has been another increase. In July 2024, quark was more than 70 percent more expensive than four years previously. There were also price jumps for condensed milk (+61.5), cream (+48.7), semi-hard cheese (+45.8) and butter (+39.4). Why has quark increased the most? “It is the most complex to produce,” says the spokesman for the Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers, Hans Foldenauer.

Ketchup 65 percent more expensive

Consumers also have to pay significantly more for tomato and spice ketchup. According to the food association Kulinaria, this is mainly due to the sharp increase in costs for important ingredients such as tomato paste, vinegar and starch, but also for energy and packaging.

Prices for asparagus and canned vegetables up 64 percent

Canned goods with asparagus or mixed vegetables (+64.5), peas (+62.5) and sauerkraut (60.9) were also affected by price increases. “2022 was a particularly bad harvest year for vegetables across Europe,” says Christoph Freitag, managing director of the Federal Association of the Fruit, Vegetable and Potato Processing Industry. The harvest in 2023 was not much better. The material also contributed to the price increases. The high demand for canned goods during the pandemic has driven up the prices of tinplate. Another factor is increased costs for personnel, energy and logistics, says Freitag.

Sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and similar: plus 63 percent

Oils are also at the top of the list of the biggest price increases. Starting from a low level in 2020, wholesale prices for rapeseed and sunflower oil refined products have already risen sharply in 2021, says expert Els. As a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, prices will then explode. Before the war, Ukraine was the world's largest exporter, obtaining a large part of its imports from the EU. Accordingly, in the spring of 2022, sunflower oil was hardly available in supermarkets for weeks, and the shelves were empty. Recently, consumer prices for oil have fallen again.

Only one food item is cheaper than in July 2020

There are numerous other products that have seen significant price increases of 30 percent or more since 2020. According to the Federal Statistical Office, only one food is a good 2 percent cheaper today than it was then: citrus fruits. “Spain's ability to deliver lemons in particular was exceptionally high this season.” “Demand is weak, as is usual for the season,” says Els. Oranges, tangerines, clementines, grapefruits and lemons were all cheaper than they were four years ago.

The test buyers recently registered lower prices for no other food than in July 2020. The smallest increases were recorded for pears (+0.8) and apples (+7.4). According to Els, apples had above-average harvest quantities in 2021 and 2022, declining purchasing mood and therefore lower prices. However, because the current apple harvest is poor, industry experts expect prices to rise.

At least some price declines since July 2023

At least: For some food products, consumers did not have to dig as deep into their pockets in July as they did twelve months earlier. The biggest price drops were for carrots (-13.8), onions and garlic (-13.7), frozen fruit (-13.1), citrus fruit (-9.3), sunflower oil and rapeseed oil (-8.6) and wheat flour (-8.3). However, the products mentioned have one thing in common: they are more expensive than in 2020, in some cases significantly more.

Recently, food prices have only increased slightly compared to the previous month, by 1.3 percent. However, this also means that the increase is continuing after prices have already risen sharply in many cases in recent years. Can consumers hope that shopping will become cheaper again? “It is always difficult to predict how prices will develop in the future,” says Jana Fischer from the consumer advice center. Droughts and heavy rain have therefore had a growing influence on food prices.

Lebensmittelhandel: Verbraucher tendieren wegen Inflation zu Discountern

Lebensmittel-Discounter wie Aldi und Lidl haben ihre Umsätze im vergangenen Jahr überdurchschnittlich stark gesteigert. Die Handelsexperten und -expertinnen vom EHI-Institut in Köln führen dies in einer am Dienstag veröffentlichten Untersuchung auf die schwache Konjunktur und die hohe Inflation zurück. „In der wirtschaftlich angespannten Lage setzen die Deutschen offenbar auf das Preisversprechen dieser Händler“, erklärten sie.

Insgesamt steigerte der Lebensmitteleinzelhandel demnach seinen Nettoumsatz im vergangenen Jahr um fünf Prozent von 195 Milliarden Euro im Vorjahr auf 204,5 Milliarden Euro. Dies gehe jedoch fast ausschließlich auf die gestiegenen Preise zurück, denn im vergangenen Jahr „gab es eine Inflationsrate bei Nahrungsmitteln von zwölf Prozent“.

Die Discounter konnten ihre Umsätze überdurchschnittlich stark um sieben Prozent auf 94,6 Milliarden Euro steigern. Bei den Supermärkten fiel das Wachstum mit 4,3 Prozent auf 86,2 Milliarden Euro deutlich geringer aus. „Die Anteilsverschiebungen des Umsatzes zwischen den Betriebsformen sind in einem Einkaufsverhalten begründet, das auf die globalen Krisen reagiert“, erklärte Marco Atzberger vom EHI.

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