Pretoria - Food prices in the country have increased by 6.90% more in January of this year than during the same month last year.
In fact, food inflation has averaged 6.27% from 2009 until 2016, reaching an all-time high of 15.75% in January of 2009 and a record low of 0.73% in June of 2010. Food inflation in the country is reported by Statistics South Africa.
Retail advertisements of 2011 showed that a 1kg bag of maize meal on average cost just over R5 that year, but had risen to R11.49 last year.
The increases also applied to milk, meat, cooking oil and rice.
According to the Food Price Monitor of November 2012, the food and non-alcoholic beverage index increased by 6.3% between October 2011 and October 2012.
From January 2012 to January 2013, the cost of a basic food basket increased by about R27.68 (6.4%) in nominal terms from R430 to R457.
The October 2015 report indicated that the surge was mainly the result of rises in sugar, vegetable oils and dairy prices.
From October 2014 to October last year, the cost of a basic food basket increased by about R23 (4.6%) in nominal terms from R506 to R529.
When comparing October 2014 to October last year, the significant price inflation (6% or more) was experienced for products within an average food basket, including black tea, brick margarine, tinned pilchards, sunflower oil, maize meal, eggs, tomatoes and brown bread.
In terms of the report, this could have a negative impact on household food security, affecting the affordability of selected staple foods such as maize meal and bread and various food items making a contribution to dietary diversity.
The Consumer Economist wrote in its January publication that during the 2014-15 economic meltdown, prices shot up sharply, hitting consumers hard.
Family 1
Have fewer meals, buy cheaper products
2011 prices
Maize meal 1kg: R5.50
Sugar 1kg: R9.90
Rice 1kg: R5
Cooking oil 250ml: R3.75
Chicken pieces 1kg: R15
2015 prices
Maize meal 1kg: R11.49
Sugar 1kg: R22.95
Rice 1kg: R10.50
Cooking oil 1kg: R10.90
Chicken pieces 1kg: R45
Domestic worker Rebone Tladi earns R3 000 a month and heads a family of three in Mamelodi.
Almost 70% of her income goes to food, and with each food price increase, her family reduce the quality of food they eat.
That means less fresh fruit, vegetables and meat; they concentrate on staples such as wheat products, maize and rice. They have even started to cut the frequency of meal times from three to two.
“As a result of high prices, I have replaced most of our food with cheaper products, regardless of their quality.
“I used to buy tinned food brands like Koo and Lucky Star, but now I have to settle for local supermarket brands. The taste is not the same, but at least it saves me some money,” Tladi said.
Potato prices have gone up at her supermarket, and so have tomatoes. Tladi now buys vegetables from an open market at Denneboom taxi rank as the prices are lower.
She used to buy butter for R25.99, so she replaced it with margarine, as the price per kilogram is R15. The same worked for chicken pieces; a year ago it cost her R35, but has since increased by R14.
“I now buy live chicken for R30,” said Tladi, while admitting that slaughtering required a lot of “admin”.
She said a tray of 24 eggs had risen from R29 to R38 at her supermarket in the past year, and milk and cheese had seen substantial increases.
But she had a plan; she switched to cheaper dairy products made from powdered milk.
Ditching the costly “carnivorous indulgence” is proving to be a mission for the Sentego family of Pretoria West.
Paul Sentego said: “We are not vegetarians for a reason; we enjoy our meat.”
They had been going about their lives as normal.
“Then one day we realised our groceries were costing us more than normal,” he said.
Sentego, a banker, said grocery shopping had always been a family outing involving him, his communications officer wife and their three children.
“Once a month we would go to Menlyn Park with a somewhat unlimited amount of money. We’d fill up our trolley with cereals, snacks and other items. We would then head for the food court. Steakhouses were top of the to-do list.”
The Sentegos would go to a butchery to stock up on the meat on their way home, everything from lamb to chicken and beef.
“Kidneys, liver, beef and chicken intestines are weekend snacks,” he explained.
He said they spent up to R3 000 on every meat shopping trip, twice a month. Ham, “Russians” and other dishes were on the list.
Sentego said it was therefore a shock to realise they had to cut back on some of these due to rising prices.
“Sweets and chips and breakfast cereals were the first to go, and they were followed by fruit and vegetables. But you can’t replace meat with lollipops and have them for supper,” Sentego said.
“Our bi-monthly outings to restaurants for meat will have to stay. What we have already cut out ought to leave us with enough money for meat,” he said.
He added that the cost-cutting saved them up to R1 500 a month on the food they did not need, allowing them R700 to spend for each restaurant outing. Sentego still manages an occasional visit to a shisanyama.
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