As you’ve likely heard, or seen first-hand at this point, the Russia’s war on Ukraine has had a knock on effect on the prices of food and fuel, globally. In Australia, we’ve seen the impact of disrupted wheat exports out of Ukraine and Russia as well as a move away from Russian oil. Petrol prices have jumped up significantly and now, Aussies are also seeing costs of everyday grocery items spike, too.
In addition to all that, as the Australian Financial Review reports, about 100 food staples including canned baked beans, spaghetti, tomatoes and fruit are expected to jump 10 to 20 per cent in price due to what SPC Global’s chief executive “calls the biggest price inflation shift of his career”.
This shift has, unsurprisingly, made its way into conversations online with people sharing their outrage at the price hike on everyday necessities. Overwhelmingly, this is an impact that is felt by rural communities most with fears rising costs of petrol will dissuade people from travelling for medical appointments and further reduce access to fresh produce and food products, the ABC has shared.
A recent Reddit thread has covered the shifts in food costs for Aussies in recent weeks, with users sharing the biggest pricing changes they’ve noticed during their weekly shop. Here are the items they highlighted as most significant (read: shocking).
Biggest Australian food price spikes, according to Reddit
Reddit user u/10khours took to the platform and asked folks “Anyone else notice food going up in price drastically over the last 2 weeks?”
The price hikes that stood out most to them included:
- Lindt dark chocolate $4.50 up to $5
- Madras curry paste $5.50 up to $6.80
- 500g mushrooms $5 up to $6.50
The post was quickly met with a wave of responses where others wrote about the food prices they’d seen in store in recent weeks. And well, folks are feeling the cost hike.
Area-Least added that they “Paid $3.5 for a cucumber.. and they are in season”.
Temporary_Fennel7479 also found cucumbers had jumped in price, sharing that “The Lebanese cucumbers are $7.90 a kg at woolies”.
Melbourne_Stokie wrote that “Frozen blueberries up from $4 to $5.80 was my ‘oh shit’ moment” while NeinkeB shared that during a Coles shop they were charged “3.50 for a single capsicum…”
outwiththedishwater added that the cost of fresh produce hasn’t been the only thing impacted, writing that for them, “Cottees cordial [has gone from] $3 to $5. Just plain fucking rude”.
And gluten free snacks haven’t gone unaffected, either. Reddit user cro-puska wrote that “My wife’s gluten free biscuits went from $7 to $7.70”.
WizziesFirstRule also pointed out that “meat is getting expensive” sharing that they noticed “Aldi 500g beef mince is like $9”.
todjo929 agreed, writing that “We did an online order from Coles last week. My wife always orders a 1kg prepack mince and a 500g one (the big one makes bulk bolognaise (sic) sauce and the smaller one makes a one night meal). The 500g one was 9 bucks, the 1kg one was 13”.
The list continues on, with one user saying their “food bill has gone up from 250 to 370 over the last month”.
It’s a difficult situation making an already tough time even harder for many. But there are a couple small choices folks can make that will hopefully reduce costs somewhat (though we’re unsure we can turn this situation around all that much right now). In any case, try and shop for produce that is currently in season, do your best to keep the food you have fresher for longer, buy in bulk where possible and opt for plant based when you can.
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