Easter: egg, chocolate and fish rise triple inflation – 03/31/2023 – Market

Giving gifts at Easter and gathering family and friends to celebrate the date will require a lot of research by Brazilians in order not to compromise the budget in April, indicates a survey released this Friday (31) by FGV Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation) ).

The more traditional Easter products recorded an average increase of 12% compared to last year. The index is more than twice the inflation, which is accumulated at 4.81% between April 2022 and March 2023 according to the IPC-S (Consumer Price Index).

The egg (increase of 27.31%) and the onion (22.67%) are the great villains of the period. Fish, usually consumed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, also exceeds 10%: tuna (12.97%), canned sardines (11.46%) and cod (10.91%).

Not even chocolate escaped an increase well above inflation. Bonbons and bars rose 9.65%, more than twice the inflation in the period.

In a survey by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), the prices of chocolate bars and bonbons rose 13.61% in Brazil, according to the IPCA (National Index of Extended Consumer Prices) between February 2022 and January 2023. It was the biggest change since February 2017.

The high increase comes at a time when costs have been falling since the last quarter of 2022, but the slowdown was not enough to offset the spike that occurred until the third quarter of last year.

“From 2020 until the third quarter of last year, we have been experiencing a period of suffocating cost pressure: climate problems, strong exchange rate devaluation, energy and logistical problems, among others, have affected the supply of various foodstuffs in the country”, explains the economist and researcher from FGV IBRE Matheus Peçanha.

The economist warns that the consumer has to stay alert in the coming days and do a lot of research. “The prices of these traditional items may rise even more, given the seasonal pressure of demand on the eve of Easter. In addition, items not included in the scope of the IPC, such as Easter eggs and pascal colombas, should also suffer from this demand pressure. by tradition”, he evaluates.

Supermarkets expect higher consumption

Despite the scenario of prices well above inflation, Easter will have more offers in supermarkets. A survey carried out by Abras (Brazilian Supermarket Association), released last week, points out that there was a 15% increase in orders for products consumed on that date.

Cheaper options, the 77g and 250g bonbons represent 26.7% of orders placed by supermarkets. The mini-eggs, rabbits, bars of 60 g to 101 g are responsible for 25.1%, while the larger eggs of 100 g to 521 g are equivalent to 20% of what will be available to consumers.

But chocolate won’t come cheap. Abras predicts that chocolate eggs will be between 13% and 18% more expensive than last year.

The sector’s expectation is that 50% of purchases should be made in the next week, with 20% taking place on Saturday, the eve of Easter.