Christmas dinner just got a bit bigger as prices dip

As South Africans go about their Christmas shopping, they can afford to loosen the purse strings a little, given that the average price of a food basket containing staples, including rice, maize meal, meat and vegetables, has decreased slightly compared with last year. 

According to data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, the prices of some items have gone up slightly while others have eased.

The net result is that the average price of a food basket this year is R1 600.45, down slightly from R1 654.07 last year.

A 10kg bag of rice costs R171.08 compared with R167.54 in November last year, a 2% increase, while a 30kg bag of maize meal went up to R328.17 this year, from R300.09 last year. 

A 10kg portion of frozen chicken costs R403.00 this year, compared with R400.60 last November, showing a 1% increase. 

But the price of 2kg of beef has dipped to R179.65, from R181.64 last year, while 60 eggs now cost R166.69, a 13% drop from R191.83 last year, when prices were driven up by the Avian flu outbreak.

A true South African Christmas meal has the “seven colours” vegetables on the plate.

The food survey shows the cost of a 10kg bag of potatoes is R112.17, down from R130.02 last year, while a 10kg bag of butternut has dropped to R95.04 from R148.87 last year, a 36% decrease. 

The price of eight bunches of spinach has, however, increased to R104.19 this year from R96.28 last year, while two heads of cabbage would now cost R40.56, compared with R38.37.

All in all, the cost of the items in the seven-colour food basket is R351.96, whereas it would have set buyers back R413.83 last year. 

In putting together the food price data, the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group works with women living on low incomes in Johannesburg’s Soweto, Alexandra, Tembisa and Hillbrow, the Cape Town areas of Gugulethu, Philippi, Khayelitsha, Langa, Delft and Dunoon, as well as KwaMashu, Umlazi, Isipingo, the Durban CBD, Hammarsdale, Pinetown, Pietermaritzburg and Mtubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal and Springbok in the Northern Cape.

South African consumers have developed “food coping strategies” when it comes to buying food and other consumables for the festive period.

These often include buying from a more affordable retailer and more affordable food, said Hester Vermeulen, a consumer analyst at Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy, a non-profit organisation which provides data and analysis on the agricultural industry.“Considering the significant income pressure that is being experienced by many South Africans, it is very possible that consumers will shop around for special price offerings — possibly resulting in less loyalty to a specific retailer — try less expensive brands and cut back on luxuries,” Vermeulen told the Mail & Guardian.