{"id":437849,"date":"2025-09-20T05:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/437849\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T05:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:49:15","slug":"why-is-everything-so-expensive-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/437849\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is everything so expensive? \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A trip to the shops for some groceries is not for the faint-hearted these days. Everything from butter to bread, olive oil to oranges, costs an eye-watering amount. <\/p>\n

Most of us will think, \u2018How much?\u2019 as we look powerlessly at the receipt and begrudgingly tap our bank cards at the checkout.<\/p>\n

Even for those on a decent wage, it is hard not to feel robbed if you are handing over more than \u00a34 for a pound of butter, or \u00a31.40 for a tin of beans – in the \u2018old\u2019 days beans on toast used to be an economical dinner. Not any more.<\/p>\n

As for luxury items, like chocolate and wine – these have become so pricey it\u2019s not hard to lose your appetite (or your thirst!).<\/p>\n

\"‘The<\/a>\"‘Arthur<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, anyone who has travelled abroad recently and enjoyed a decent bottle of wine for four euros in Spain or Portugal, will likely be left with a bitter taste when that same bottle costs twice as much in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"DoesFood prices in supermarkets aren’t likely to come down any time soon (Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

But what exactly is making some items so dear, and how can you tell if you are being ripped off?<\/p>\n

The Irish News financial columnist Peter McGahan unpacks the reasons behind high grocery prices in Northern Ireland and discusses whether or not those hefty price tags will ever come down. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is more complicated than simple profiteering (but there is that),\u201d said Peter.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood prices in the UK have been pushed up by a mix of global shocks, domestic costs, and market structures that make Britain particularly expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis brand of coffee costs \u00a38.25 in Sainsbury’s <\/p>\n

Energy and fuel costs<\/b><\/p>\n

Food doesn\u2019t just grow in fields \u2013 it travels, gets processed, packaged, and refrigerated. Energy prices feed into all of this. <\/p>\n

The war in Ukraine in 2022 cut Europe off from cheap Russian energy. Britain, which relies very heavily on imported gas, was left exposed to soaring world prices. That cheaper energy is now flowing elsewhere \u2013 Russian pipelines are pivoting towards China and Mongolia, while the UK and Europe import more costly American gas instead.<\/p>\n

Energy is the invisible ingredient in every item on a supermarket shelf. From fertiliser to tractors, shipping to cold storage, higher energy costs rocket through the whole chain and land in the weekly shop.<\/p>\n

The weak pound<\/b><\/p>\n

Since the Brexit referendum, sterling has been weaker against the euro and the dollar,\u201d said Peter.<\/p>\n

A weaker currency makes imports more expensive \u2013 and the UK imports nearly half its food. Spain, by contrast, grows much of its own fruit and vegetables, so it doesn\u2019t face the same exchange-rate penalty. <\/p>\n

\n

Energy is the invisible ingredient in every item on a supermarket shelf. <\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Financial expert, Peter McGahan <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Labour shortages<\/b><\/p>\n

Farmers and food processors across the UK have struggled to recruit workers since Brexit ended free movement. <\/p>\n

Shortages of pickers, abattoir staff, and HGV drivers have pushed up wages in those sectors. While better pay is good for workers, it also means higher costs that filter through to shop prices. <\/p>\n

\"OliveOlive oil priced at \u00a37 in Tesco <\/p>\n

Supermarket competition \u2013 or the lack of it<\/b><\/p>\n

In Spain and Portugal, discount chains like Mercadona and Lidl dominate, keeping margins tight.<\/p>\n

The UK also has Aldi and Lidl, but the market is still led by Tesco, Sainsbury\u2019s and Asda. These giants have strong power over suppliers, and critics argue this creates a \u201cprice umbrella\u201d where branded goods in particular \u2013 like cereals and coffee \u2013 stay much higher priced than in continental Europe.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Food inflation to hit 5.7% as suppliers can \u2018no longer absorb\u2019 costs, FDF warns<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Debt, rents, and finance costs<\/b><\/p>\n

UK supermarkets and suppliers face higher property and finance costs than many continental rivals. That burden gets baked into the price of groceries.<\/p>\n

Because we are struggling, and the central bank has decided to increase interest rates to calm things, we go to our employer and ask for a wage rise. They agree, but pass that on to their customer, who passes it on to theirs, and we complete the spiral. The businesses also have higher borrowing costs and pass that on to the customer.<\/p>\n

Are we being ripped off? <\/b><\/p>\n

Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz calls this \u201csellers\u2019 inflation\u201d \u2013 when big firms use a crisis to raise prices faster than their costs,\u201c said Mr McGahan. <\/p>\n

Economist Isabella Weber explains the process in three stages:<\/p>\n

Impulse: Something big happens that pushes up basic costs \u2013 for example, oil or gas suddenly gets much more expensive. The companies selling that oil or gas make extra profits.<\/p>\n

Propagation: Other businesses further down the chain \u2013 like food manufacturers and supermarkets \u2013 see their bills go up. They raise their own prices, sometimes more than they need to, so their profits don\u2019t fall.<\/p>\n

Conflict: Ordinary people now face higher prices in the shops. They ask for higher wages just to keep up. That, in turn, can push businesses to lift prices again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a chain reaction: a shock at the top spreads through companies and finally lands on workers and shoppers, keeping prices high.<\/p>\n

The stock market reflects this. Since October 2022, Sainsbury\u2019s share price has climbed 83%, while Tesco has 120%. Read into that what you may.<\/p>\n

This pattern is strongest in concentrated industries where firms shadow each other\u2019s moves rather than compete them down.<\/p>\n

UK grocery prices are high because the country is unusually exposed to global shocks, carries heavy domestic costs, and has weaker competitive pressure than southern Europe.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just profiteering \u2013 though some brands have taken advantage \u2013 but a combination of energy dependence, a weak pound, labour shortages, finance costs, and corporate pricing power.<\/p>\n

Of course, what everyone wants to know is if those hefty price tags are likely to come down anytime soon? <\/p>\n

Sadly, the outlook isn\u2019t good.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrocery prices in the UK aren\u2019t likely to fall soon. Mainstream economists expect slower inflation, but not cheaper food,\u201d said Mr McGahan. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u00a34 cereal box is here to stay. It is only with a move to squeeze energy companies and their profits that we will see those prices fall, but that has been known for some time and nothing has happened at government level.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A trip to the shops for some groceries is not for the faint-hearted these days. Everything from butter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[67688,108639,109576,148304,24868,24870,148305,148306,117370,33047,148307,95063,20190,136841,21329,148308,13031,1203,2568,44888,51066,7560,24875,38595,144775,7746,26108,100986,17337,11627,148309,3144,7036,33662,147743,1144,3120,457,38793,2249,148310,148311,28606,49617,363,19271,148312,4566,148313,246,104596,17749,40631,16,15,3137,18013],"class_list":{"0":"post-437849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-activity","9":"tag-adults","10":"tag-aisle","11":"tag-basket","12":"tag-buy","13":"tag-buying","14":"tag-cart","15":"tag-casual","16":"tag-caucasian","17":"tag-choice","18":"tag-choosing","19":"tag-concepts","20":"tag-consumerism","21":"tag-contemporary","22":"tag-customer","23":"tag-defocused","24":"tag-examining","25":"tag-food","26":"tag-groceries","27":"tag-horizontal","28":"tag-human","29":"tag-image","30":"tag-indoor","31":"tag-indoors","32":"tag-interior","33":"tag-label","34":"tag-leisure","35":"tag-lifestyles","36":"tag-list","37":"tag-looking","38":"tag-mall","39":"tag-man","40":"tag-market","41":"tag-merchandise","42":"tag-motion","43":"tag-northern-ireland","44":"tag-one","45":"tag-people","46":"tag-person","47":"tag-photography","48":"tag-picking","49":"tag-pursuit","50":"tag-reading","51":"tag-real","52":"tag-retail","53":"tag-routine","54":"tag-shelf","55":"tag-shop","56":"tag-shopaholic","57":"tag-shopping","58":"tag-smiling","59":"tag-store","60":"tag-supermarket","61":"tag-uk","62":"tag-united-kingdom","63":"tag-woman","64":"tag-young"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}