The Easter holiday, celebrated on Friday the 29th, is approaching, and with it the demand for food that makes up the basket used by families during this period of the year. Amid a scenario of inflation rising 0.96% in February in the RMS, the biggest increase since 2016, the purchasing power of Bahians increased, according to Fecomercio-BA consultant, Guilherme Dietze.
In conversation with Portal A TARDE, the economist highlighted the growth in employment and income in the region, which favors a more positive scenario in relation to the last twelve months. “Our expectations are favorable at this moment. This is because the economic conditions of families, employment, income and credit, are better than a year ago. There are more jobs, stronger purchasing power and this allows for this advance in purchasing At Easter, this perspective is important not only for chocolate stores, which sell Easter eggs there, but also for supermarkets that offer the ingredients to make the meal on Sunday”, he highlighted.
According to data from Fecomércio-BA, olive oil will be the big villain this year, with an average increase of almost 37%. In second place comes rice with a 12-month increase of 24.56%. In the opposite direction, the items onion, tomato and garlic recorded respective declines of -18.73%, -5.54% and -3.84%. Items such as chocolate and chocolate powder, which rose 4.5%, and chocolate bars and bonbons, which fell -1.69%. Both have a variation well below that found in January 2023.
“No matter how much you talk about a rise in food prices, in fact there has been a peak at the beginning of the year, some products have lower prices compared to last year, here I highlight tomatoes, onions and garlic. On the other hand, On the other hand, rice and olive oil prices are skyrocketing with more than 40% increase, and there is a lot of olive oil due to a crop failure there in Europe and due to El Niño”, added Dietze.
Still according to the economist, in general, economic conditions in Salvador and Bahia are better, which is why it is possible to see an increase in sales during the Easter period. On the contrary, he highlighted that the spike in food and transport prices could have an impact on the next important date in the economic scenario, which is Mother’s Day, celebrated this year on May 12th, with a reduction in supply.
