Shopping for food and daily necessities from the supermarket is the daily routine for many people and the price fluctuation in supermarket items will inevitably be a cause for concern. In the Consumer Council’s 2019 Annual Supermarket Price Survey, the aggregate average price of the 230 top-selling items covered in the survey of 3 major supermarket chains rose slightly by 0.6% year on year. Although the increase was lower than the Composite Consumer Price Index (2.9%) in the same period, the picture was different when comparisons were made among goods grossly divided into 12 product categories and 50 product groups. When analyzed by product category, the aggregate average price of “non-staple food/seasonings” and “staple food” showed the biggest increase of 3.3% and 3.2% respectively; when analyzed by product groups, the aggregate average price of “packaged rice” and “frozen food” showed the biggest increase of 8.5% and 6.7% respectively, which were both higher than the inflation rate of 2.9% in the same period.
The Council is deeply concerned about the significant rise in the groups of “staple food” and “packaged rice”, be it analysed by product category or product group, adding an extra burden on consumers’ daily expenditures in the midst of economic downturn. The survey also found that the maximum and minimum average price of each item in the same group could vary by more than 20% in some of the product groups. Consumers are advised to shop wisely by comparing product prices to alleviate their financial strain.
“Non-staple food” was the category with the biggest increase in total aggregate price in 2019. Except “noodles” of which the aggregate average selling price decreased by 0.4%, 4 out of the 5 product groups in this category showed an increase, from 1.8% increase in "breakfast cereal" to 6.7% increase in "frozen food", which was the most significant increase and had been persistent in the last 3 years with its aggregate average price increased by 1.9% and 6% in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The increase was exacerbated by the panic buying of a brand of chicken sausage at the end of 2018 following a rumour that its manufacturer would be closed down, leading to an increase in its average price by over 20% in 2019. Although the aggregate average price of “seasoning/sauce” only increased by 2%, 2 soy sauce products in the group recorded a double-digit increase (12.4% and 11.8%), while the other chicken powder in the same group also recorded a rise of nearly 10% (9.8%).
The aggregate average price of the “staple food” product category was the second most-increased category in 2019 with 3.2% increase. The price of “packaged rice” in the group under this category increased most in 2019 with an increase in aggregate average price by 8.5%, following a 10.7% rise in 2018. The average price of 8 types of packaged rice in the group all rose continuously in the past 2 years, with an increase rate of 6% to 15.6% in 2018 and a further surge of 4.4% to 18.5% in 2019.
Triggered by the novel coronavirus outbreak in the beginning of this year, there was a panic buying of rice, resulting in its being out of stock in the market. The Council specifically compared the selling price of “packaged rice” from 2 online supermarket platforms and found that the average selling price of 7 brands of packaged rice all rose in February this year, of which the average price of 3 brands increased by 10.2%, 9.9% and 9.6% respectively when compared to that of previous month. While there are wide variety of food available in the market, “rice” remains the most preferred choice for many families. The Council will continue to closely monitor the supply and price of rice and will also disseminate accurate information to the public in a timely manner. The Council also calls on rice importers and retailers to stabilize their supply and price.
In addition, the aggregate average price of the “canned food” category increased by 2.3% in 2019. Except “canned meat” with a slight decrease of 0.5% in its aggregate average price, the average prices of the remaining 2 product groups, namely “canned fish” and “canned vegetables/soup”, increased by 4.4% and 4.2% respectively. The average prices of all the products in these 2 groups also surged. Among the 5 “canned fish” products in the group, the average price of 1 product of ‘deep fried dace with fermented soya beans’ (豆豉鯪魚) increased as much as 7.4%; while a corn cream product increased by 8.5% in the “canned vegetable/soup” group.
Many health-conscious consumers prefer tofu products. Although the aggregate average price of the "dairy foods/eggs/tofu" category only increased by 1.1%, the aggregate average price of the "tofu" group increased by 11.7% in 2017 and 6.3% in 2018 and continued to rise by 6.1% in 2019, of which 2 products in this group rose by 8.1% and 9.2% respectively. The average price of all 5 “ice cream” products under the same product category had increased in 2019 with 3.5% rise in their aggregate average price.
The survey found that the price of the same product fluctuated significantly during the year. For instance, the average online price (including discounts) of a toilet paper covered in the annual survey and available for sale in 2 online supermarket platforms increased from $31.8 in February to $36.1 in June 2018, representing an increase of about 10%. Its price then dropped slightly but bounced back in early 2019, reaching $37.9 in its average online price in February this year, showing a rise of 8% when compared to the price of $35.1 in January.
The product category that recorded the most significant drop was “alcoholic drinks”, with 3.1% decrease in its aggregate average price. Among them, “beer” was the group that dropped most with 5.6% decrease of which the prices of 2 beer products in the group had the biggest drop of 10.4% and 13.9% respectively. 2 of the 4 “wine” products also dropped by 0.4% and 5.7% respectively while the other 2 rose respectively by 0.3% and 2.8%.
The Council has started releasing its first Annual Supermarket Price Report since 2005 to enhance price transparency and to facilitate consumers to shop wisely by comparing prices of various product brands. The survey was conducted based on the barcode information of the products sold in the major supermarket chains.
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