Big turnaround to come in flour and bread prices in Hungary
The price of one of the most sought-after grocery items, bread, could take a surprising turn in the coming weeks in Hungary. The fall in wheat prices will push down the price of flour, and this is expected to have an impact on the price of bread. Although the prices of flour and bakery products will start to fall soon, consumers will not be happy about the price of pasta for the time being.
Falling prices
Bread is the most expensive grocery item in Hungary so far, with the price doubling in a year. From February, however, the turnaround that shoppers have been waiting for could happen. Zoltán Lakatos, President and CEO of Hajdú Grain Ltd., informed the Hungarian RTL about this. As for the price of wheat,
there could be a fall of around 5 percent, which I think will start in February,
says Lakatos.
He adds that the price of wheat will continue to fall, which will also have an impact on the price of flour. The fall in wheat prices is due to the start of grain shipments from Ukraine. Although consumers can be pleased with these falling prices, producers and processors are not. Since the start of grain shipments from Ukraine, some agricultural businesses are facing financial difficulties, RTL reports.
Consumers may be less happy about the price of pasta
In the past year, the rise in the price of pasta has been the most striking, along with dairy and bakery products. Although the price of bakery products seems to be falling in Hungary, customers are not so lucky with pasta.
Telex has compared the inflation of pasta products across EU countries. The results show that pasta in Hungary was 70.9 percent more expensive in December 2022 compared to the same period last year. The second highest price increase was in Lithuania (47.4 percent) and the third in Slovakia (35 percent). Thus, Hungary is far behind the other countries concerning the rate of increase of pasta prices.
Differences between pasta prices
Telex contacted Soós Tészta Ltd., one of the best-known pasta brands in Hungary. The Hungarian pasta producer pointed out that they had not increased their prices as much as Telex’s statistics suggested. They also noted that they produced mainly egg-containing products, whereas in other European countries the production and purchase of egg-free pasta products is more common. But, as the pasta producer wrote, although many factors contributed to the rise in their prices, the main contributory factor to the price increase for their own products was the soaring price of eggs.
The news portal also compared the prices of specific pasta products (mainly those of the Italian brand Barilla) in Hungary and other countries. They found that while in Italy, for example, you can buy the same Barilla product for EUR 1.69, in Hungary it costs the equivalent of EUR 5.4 at the same retail chain. They believe that the significant price increases in Hungarian shops are not only due to real economic trends. It is also possible that some companies are trying to take advantage of the general price increase.
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Source: rtl.hu, telex.hu
I will genuinely be surprised if the price of my daily bread will go down – ever again.
The wholesale price of wheat-flour might, but labour and associated costs are unlikely to go down. I can’t see bakers (or for that matter, any other trader) wanting to go back to the old prices.
… The more I think about it, it will be the same for moo juice and cackleberry.