Belgian food price inflation slowing down

Supermarket food price inflation has stalled to its lowest level in a year, up 2.7%, according to new research from consumer association Test-Achats.

The slowdown comes after a rise of 24% in two years, Le Soir reports, and prices are unlikely to return to the levels they were at before the sudden surge of record-breaking inflation.

“We'll never get back to where we were,” said Jean-Philippe Ducart, spokesperson for Test-Achats. "[There’s been] a structural erosion of purchasing power, which is quite annoying, even if some consumers have absorbed the price rises."

Testachats based its analysis on price quotes for more than 3,500 products from seven chains: Colruyt, Delhaize, Carrefour, Aldi, Lidl, Cora and Albert Heijn.

Its newest index shows some notable decreases compared with 12 months ago.

This is the case for certain vegetables (-22.3% for cucumbers and -15.3% for tomatoes), dairy products (-3% for semi-skimmed milk and yoghurt and -2% for butter) and bread (-2.7%).

Non-food products that saw their prices fall include cling film and aluminium foil (down 7%), as well as paper towels (down 2%) and toilet paper (down 1%).

Some product categories, on the other hand, have risen sharply over the same period, including certain vegetables, such as carrots (+25.8%), onions (+19.3%) and potatoes (+17%). Olive oil (+17.6%), cat food (+15.3%) and ketchup (+12.5%).

A number of non-food products are also seeing sharp price increases, notably deodorant sprays (+19%) and multi-purpose cleaners (+18%).