Spaniards spent 12.4% more in February on their food shopping than a year earlier, with a 15.4% increase in average prices and a 2.6% drop in volume sales, offsetting the fall compared to January, according to data published by the consultancy firm NIQ.
More specifically, for yet another month, food is once again the sector that generated the highest outlay for Spaniards, with year-on-year growth in value sales of 14.9% and a decrease in volume sales of 1%, which led to a price increase of 16.5%, compared to February 2022, reaching its highest ever recorded in the historical series since inflation began and in line with the data published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE).
Once again, the chemist and perfumery sector and the beverage sector showed the most balanced price changes, although they suffered the biggest falls in demand compared to food. Thus, for the first category, spending increased by 9.4%, while volume sales fell by 3.5%, recording a price increase of 13.7%, while beverage sales in value terms rose by 5.2%, with a fall in volume sales of 3.5% and a price increase of 3.7%.
Among the products that experienced the highest increases in average price last February, compared to a year earlier, oil continued to be at the top of the list – increasing 34%. After so many months, this has led to it being the category most affected by a fall in demand, with volume sales plummeting by 12.6%.
Dairy products continue to be one of the items with the highest price growth. In February, butter went up 31.8%, pasteurised white cheeses rose 27.3%, liquid milk and plant-based drinks increased by 26%, and processed cheese, cream and cream cheese saw hikes of 25.9%, 25.8% and 23.7%, respectively.
In this sense, the consultancy firm observed a shift from butter to margarine, with the latter recording a growth in demand of 4.3%, compared to a 2.2% drop in volume sales of butter. This explains the price difference, which continues to be very favourable to margarine.
Pet food was also among the most inflationary categories, which increased in price by 24.7% and decreased in demand by 4% compared with the previous year.
Among the categories with more moderate price increases were wines, which cost 5.1% more, and dried fruits and nuts, which increased in price by 3.5%. However, the demand behaviour for these products was different and thus, while there was a slight 2.7% increase for nuts and dried fruit, wine fell by 4.8%, which can be explained by the hospitality sector recovering.
However, some categories recording lower inflation belonged to the chemist and perfumery sector. Make-up increased in price by 4.3%, fabric softeners by 3.4% and facial care products stood out with a 2.1% drop in price.
On the other hand, the weekend effect of face masks has led to a striking 55% drop in the volume sold in the mass-market parapharmacy sector.
Large supermarkets reach 55.9% of the market share
Meanwhile, by sales channels, and in terms of food and beverages, the share remained practically unchanged, with large supermarkets (800–2,500 square metres) increasing by 0.5 points to 55.9%; small supermarkets (under 300 square metres) increased by 0.2 points, with a market share of 7.9%; medium-sized supermarkets (300 to 799 square metres) rose by 0.2 points, with a market share of 16.2%, while independent supermarkets of less than 300 square metres fell by 0.5 points and hypermarkets also decreased by 0.3 points, reaching market shares of 4.0% and 12.4%, respectively.
Service stations remained unchanged with a share of 1.5%, while the online channel declined by 0.1 points to reach a share of 2.1%.
NIQ's general manager for Southern Europe, Patricia Daimiel, explained that "February's food shopping behaviour has followed the upward trend recorded in recent months and confirms the difficulties in implementing the reduction in the prices of energy, fertilisers and VAT". "Although some categories have moderated their price increases, it will still take time for them to reduce", he stressed.
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