FEEDING THE MASSES

Some parents told the Olive Press that goods previously considered ‘normal’ have effectively become ‘luxuries’.

Anna Langdon, a British expat, based in Granada, explained: “I’m feeding four people on a pension meant for one, and it is more of a struggle than before.

“As I’ve raised six kids on homemade soups and home-grown food with little money for decades, I was relatively prepared for the crisis. However, even staple foods have increased in price, like butter and cheese, and we’ve had to use less and less and our portion sizes have shrunk a lot.”

She added: “The price increase in pet food is difficult and as I’ve got two cats and an elderly dog it’s sometimes cheaper to buy offal and rice.”

Meanwhile, Lenka, a Romanian mother of three, based in Orgiva, explained that she is having to cook something hearty that ‘ideally lasts for two or three days’.

“For example, a whole cooked chicken can be used to make soup the second day,” she said.

However, many working parents rely on shop-bought snacks, and the cost of these has multiplied.

“I know of a case where the snack a child takes to school each day has gone up by 300%, affecting the parent’s buying behaviour,” explained Lucy Hayes Logan, who runs her own advice agency, Tus Alpujarras.

“The impact can be huge for those on a set wage, one-salary households, the self-employed and people recovering from the financial losses caused by Covid.”

“The proposed 14% discount idea is a great idea, but how will it be funded? What are the food items and why those 20? Which brands? I’ve seen reduced items in supermarkets that look attractive, but the discounts are on selected lines, and often there are less-known brands that are still cheaper.”

Will a discount help most consumers?

Unless all foodstuffs are reduced, a basket of 20 goods won’t help everyone. For example, it’s unlikely to include pet food, which has seen huge rises, with a 20kg sack of cereal going from €11 to €18 to 20.

Leonie Crane, owner of the Camac health food shop, in Orgiva, raises different concerns. “Smaller outlets need money from their sales to restock. How long will the 14% reimbursement from the government take to arrive?”

Cepsa petrol station boss, Joaquin Rodriguez, said: “When the government discount scheme for fuel ended, motorists rushed to fill their tanks, then returned to the same buying behaviour as before.” Cepsa now applies its own 12% discount with a loyalty card.

How to save money?

Whether or not the government decides to deduct 14.4% from certain food items, consumers can save money by being savvy. For starters, download the store loyalty apps: both Lidl and Dia have apps giving access to discount coupons, while Consum runs a savings scheme (the Mundo Consum card) where members can recoup a percentage of their monthly spend, delivered as an in-app voucher.

When in store, seek own-brand goods that cost less than, for example, imported British goods. Also look for discounts of the day, and multi-buy offers.

If all else fails, start planting your own vegetables and keep goats and chickens, and return to the centuries-old traditions of rural Spain. It’s not like we’re short of rural space.