Well well

[johnofgwent]

Such studies are interesting, but until they compare how many minutes on average pay have to be worked in each country to buy exactly similar foodstuffs, they're very much academic talking points. Anyone who's been shopping around Europe with their eyes open will notice that bread, coffee, pasta, etc, are all different.

A while ago I read a study of how many local Big Macs could be bought by an hour's average pay, and what number of Big Macs would equate in price to average shopping basket. Again academic but, I suggest, something easier to visualise...

Yes i remember how many months pay the average Russian would need to have spent on a big mac when the Moscow store opened.

which is why all the way back in 1974 when studying o level economics i measured real world average wealth as the measure of a week's rent, the cost of a loaf of bread and the cost of a pint of beer.

And in 1981 in Cardiff Student Land those were £10, 35p and 42p

[papasmurf]

The whole article has a bit more nuance - the upshot is the UK cheaper than some EU countries, more than others (notably France, which is quite a bit more expensive for food).

I was in Brittany back at the end of March the beginning of April, and food prices were volatile, changing almost daily especially fruit and veg. However fruit and veg were cheap on street markets. Grade one large cauliflowers were 90 centimes, apples were also cheap on street markets, however they were old varieties not to be found in supermarkets. (fresh fish, shellfish, and bivalve molluscs were next to non existent due to various strikes by Fishermen and others.)

[BeElBeeBub]

It's worth having a listen to the "more or less podcast" link in the article

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0frfdtl

The graph in the OP is not the whole story, as it looks at some selected goods.

The whole article has a bit more nuance - the upshot is the UK cheaper than some EU countries, more than others (notably France, which is quite a bit more expensive for food).

Some of those differences are due to buying habits - discount supermarkets Aldi make uo a very big % of shopping in Germany. Whilst the French typically buy better quality foods (big generalisation)

The podcast notes that food inflation since 2019 in the UK has been about 27% whilst in EU about 25%, close enough that you can say it's the same.

The UK was always at the cheaper end of the EU food price scale.l (despite the impression given by Brexiters pre referendum). Even with the inflation we have experienced, we are still one of the cheaper places to buy food.

Doesn't help people who are struggling, especially at the lower end, whilst inflation might "only" be 25% cheap staples like pasta and rice have near doubled. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65833619

[Nick]

I already did.

No you didn't Tony, that is a lie. You posted a nested link, post the pertinent link. 

[Unlucky4Sum]

It is a detailed dataset not bollocks, it even has a lot of graphics to make it simple.

And seems you're too simple to post such extracts with a pertinent comment to actually properly make a point 
 
Just saying 'read the whole article and every link in it' is the comment of a complete arse

[papasmurf]

When someone is a fucking stupid as to post bollocks like that then learning for them isn't going to be hard it's an impossibility.

I'd say grow up but well you know some things are way beyond hope.

It is a detailed dataset not bollocks, it even has a lot of graphics to make it simple.

[Unlucky4Sum]

I merely expect people to read all of a link and the embedded links in it. Gaining knowledge is not easy it is hard.

When someone is a fucking stupid as to post bollocks like that then learning for them isn't going to be hard it's an impossibility. 
 
I'd say grow up but well you know some things are way beyond hope.

[papasmurf]

We'll post the link pertinent to what you're saying.

I already did.

[papasmurf]

But we all know your definition of empty shelves doesn't match anyone else's.

It matches national reports. Your extrapolating personal experience to apply nationally does not.
I also tried shopping in the village. The butchers shop reasonable prices, the fishmonger is cheap, but it is straight off the fisherman's boat and the fishmongers is run by his partner. The farm shops are frankly taking the piss, over priced and not good quality.

Supermarket shelves face more fruit and veg shortages - Retail Gazette


From tea to ketchup, some shelves lie empty as retailers struggle to predict demand | Reuters

[Nick]

I merely expect people to read all of a link and the embedded links in it. Gaining knowledge is not easy it is hard.

We'll post the link pertinent to what you're saying. 

[Nick]

When I post a link that contains data I expect people to read all of it. (My wife has gone to the Simmer Dim motorcycle rally on Shetland and will be away for at least eleven days. That meant I did the shopping myself today. I did not buy what I want because some of it was far too dear, and there were also a lot of empty shelves.)

But we all know your definition of empty shelves doesn't match anyone else's. 

[papasmurf]

Well you're being stupid and arrogant then and frankly it rightly or wrongly just communicates that you know the link doesn't support whatever line you're pushing in a discussion.

I merely expect people to read all of a link and the embedded links in it. Gaining knowledge is not easy it is hard.

[Unlucky4Sum]

When I post a link that contains data I expect people to read all of it.  . . .

Well you're being stupid and arrogant then and frankly it rightly or wrongly just communicates that you know the link doesn't support whatever line you're pushing in a discussion. 
 

[papasmurf]

Doesn't really say much in that link

But the embedded link to drill down is really good https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/shoppingpricescomparisontool/2023-05-03

When I post a link that contains data I expect people to read all of it. (My wife has gone to the Simmer Dim motorcycle rally on Shetland and will be away for at least eleven days. That meant I did the shopping myself today. I did not buy what I want because some of it was far too dear, and there were also a lot of empty shelves.)

[Unlucky4Sum]

Things have changed since then.

Cost of living insights - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

Doesn't really say much in that link 
 
But the embedded link to drill down is really good https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/shoppingpricescomparisontool/2023-05-03