Counting the costs

THE_cost of shopping has increased by at least 11 per cent in just eight months, according to Shilpa's Weekly Shopping List.

GulfWeekly sent reporter Shilpa Chandran on a mission to check the prices of a typical trolley load of shopping starting from last July.

She has continued to visit some of the kingdom's leading supermarkets each week and has made regular subtle changes to her list of items to ensure she keeps the stores on their toes.

But this week she ventured back to the original five outlets in her first survey to see what changes had occurred. Two of the branded items in the first list were no longer stocked by the stores so, to ensure a fair result, she removed them from the list in a special price comparison study.

The service to readers started on July 4 last year. An original list of 18 popular items cost shoppers between BD17.545 to BD21.495. Removing the two items no longer stocked produced a price of 16 items between BD14.770 and BD16.295.

Those same 16 items now cost shoppers between BD16.800 and BD18.980.

Taken annually the difference relates to an EXTRA BD105 and BD139 out of your purse.

Furious shoppers are left counting the cost of inflationary pressures.

"Vegetables and fruits have increased tremendously. We are vegetarian and tend to buy vegetables in bulk. Our average consumption per week used to cost BD12 and now it has risen up to BD18 per week!" says housewife Neelam Mathur, 37, from Hoora.

"Also there seems to be a huge shortage of wheat flour in most markets. The Indian brand that we normally used to buy isn't available anywhere. It used to be part of our staple diet and it is very difficult for us to manage now."

Zara Khan, 32, a housewife from Saar, added: "I have noticed the prices for beef and mutton in particular have risen. We don't know whom to blame - the supermarkets or the suppliers. Supermarket officials say that they are helpless as they buy it at a higher cost and, of course, we have no idea what their story is."

Deputy manager and head of marketing at Alosra supermarket, Jaffar Al Alsafoor said: "There have been increases across the board. Over the last year, dairy products such as cheese and butter have gone up between 20 and 50 per cent. Products which are brought from far away have also gone up. We are feeling the affect of price increases."

One baker from Budaiya, who declined to be named, said: "We use European raw materials for many of our products. They have all increased in price over the past couple of years - the reason could be because the value of dollar has dropped against the Euro. That is probably why most products are increasing in price."

Harish Sewani, store manager at the Lebanon Trade Centre, which joined our shopping list alongside Lulu Hypermarket after the original was published, said: "The cost of most European products is rising. The reasons are many - beginning with the dollar dropping its value to the increased rates of shipping over the goods.

"We have no control over inflation here as it is not just a local phenomenon - it's a global situation. Demands are rising and so are the prices."

A spokesman from Al Jazira supermarket, added: "We get products at such high costs from the suppliers. Since last year we have been facing this issue. We have never had this kind of price increase before - items have gone up eight to 10 per cent within a year.

"For example, we used to buy Cerelac baby food at BD30.600, now it has gone to BD32.600 and Maggie Soups were at BD27 and has soared to BD34.650.

"For our part, we have been minimising our margins as much as possible for our customers.

"We have been most concerned about the price for rice which has changed at least four times in recent months. One reason, the value of the dollar is dropping, the Indian rupee is growing stronger but the demand remains high."

Tilda rice brand is one such example. Distributor of the brand, Jawad Group, say as a company it tries wherever possible to absorb price increases but sometimes it is forced to give in to market pressure.

Rajesh Khanna, divisional manager, said: "It's a global phenomenon. There has been a shortage of crops in countries of import like India and Pakistan leading to an increase in prices.

"We are helpless and have to pass it on to supermarkets which in turn have to increase prices to customers."

A number of banks, universities, governmental and industry-backed research departments have contacted GulfWeekly for permission to use data from Shilpa's Shopping List for their own investigations into prices in Bahrain.