The Consumer Council conducted annual supermarket price survey on 200 popular items sold at the 3 major supermarket chains across the territory including CRVanguard, ParknShop, Wellcome and their affiliated supermarkets.
The survey revealed that the aggregate average price rose by 0.4% in 2015, lower than the increase of 1.8% registered in the 2014 survey. Nevertheless, the average prices of some items, namely evaporated/condensed milk and 1 nut product, surged with double-digit increases. For staple food including rice and edible oil the aggregate average price has dropped for the second year.
When compared with the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the corresponding period which recorded an overall rise of 3%, the overall price increase found by the survey is relatively moderate. Nevertheless, the survey also revealed that over 20% (41 items) of the surveyed goods have raised prices higher than the Composite CPI.
For further analysis, the 200 items under survey were broadly divided into 13 categories and sub-divided into 45 groups. Based on the product categories, 8 out of 13 recorded aggregate average price rose from a minimal of 0.1% to most a notable of 4.8%. Items leading the price hike were instant drinks (4.8%) and candies/biscuits/snacks (2.1%). 5 product categories were shown to come down in their aggregate average prices from 0.1% to 1.6%, with the largest price drop detected on the category of "Others" covering pet food.
Of the sub-divided groups, the survey recorded increase in the aggregate average prices of 23 groups ranging from 0.1% to a significant 16.3%. 3 product groups at top of the price surge were "nuts" (16.3%), "evaporated/condensed milk" (11.3%) and the newly introduced product group - "honey" (6.6%). It is worth noting that in both "nuts" and "honey" product groups, an individual item with average price increases of a hefty 22.2% and 16.4% were registered respectively.
The average price increase of 3 items in the "evaporated/condensed milk" product group varied from 11.1% to 11.4%. The average price increase of one particular item in this group surged by a staggering 33% over 3 years. On the other hand, average price increase of items in the newly introduced "honey" product group stood at 6.6%, which was higher than the other groups under the "instant drinks" category.
20 product groups had their prices slashed from 0.4% to 3.9% on aggregate average. The groups with noticeable downward price adjustments included: "adult milk powder" (-3.9%), "instant noodles" (-3.4%), "condiments and sauces" (-2.9%) and "breakfast cereals" (-2.9%). 1 condiments item recorded a substantial drop of 10.4%, the largest price slash among the 200 items surveyed.
Consumers should be delighted to know that the average prices of all items surveyed in the "rice" and "edible oil" groups were lower than that in 2014, with an aggregate average decrease of 1.4% and 1.5% respectively. 4 rice products had their average prices come down ranging from 0.6% to 2.1%. Among the 8 edible oil products, 1 item had the average price decrease of 5.2%. The remaining items saw their average prices dropping from 0.2% to 2.9%.
The aggregate average price of "canned meat" fell by 2.5% last year with all 7 items having their prices cut from a range of 1.6% to 4.3% on aggregate average. "Canned fish" and "canned soup/vegetables" under the same product category, however, had their aggregate average price increased by 2.3% and 2.5% respectively.
It's found that in 2 adult milk powder of the same brand and product series, the average price for the packing of 800 grams increased by 3.5% while the 600 grams one dropped by 5.4%. Smart consumers can make their purchase decisions by comparing price on the basis of 100 gram.
The aggregate average prices of "yoghurt/yoghurt drinks" and "noodles" remain unchanged.
The survey result also showed a magnitude of price changes of different items under the same product group could vary substantially to as much as 17.2%. Supermarket shoppers shall compare prices of various product brands available in different shops for smart choices.
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