A Belfast shop owner is warning consumers that food prices will likely increase even further over the coming months due to rising energy, commodity and fuel costs.
Chris O'Reilly has spoken to Belfast Live about how increased costs will hit customers as they see key food items such as baked goods, poultry and dairy products increase in price, with certain items being more affected than others.
The Ormeau Road Mace owner says in the past year some of his suppliers have increased their costs three times, something that has normally only happened once a year or every other year, and believes that they are likely to increase them further in the coming months.
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Chris said that a combination of energy and fuel prices increasing, labour shortages and supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic and War in Ukraine has caused a "perfect storm" that is being felt by suppliers, wholesalers, shops and consumers.
He highlighted how rising wheat prices are having a knock on effect along the supply chain that will see nearly all baked goods impacted, and that certain meats such as pork and poultry could increase in price by over 20 per cent.
The conflict in Ukraine has also impacted the supply of sunflower oil, with it being Europe's biggest producer, and there is likely to be shortages of it which could effect the production of items such as crisps and many other foods.
Chris said: "Price increases are becoming harder and harder to keep up with and I have not seen such a price fluid environment before.
"Normally price increases from suppliers would take place once a year and in some cases every other year, but over the last year there are some that have risen their prices three times and are likely to do so again in the coming months. This is something that has just not happened before.
"Rising energy costs are making it more expensive for suppliers to produce products and for shops to operate, with the increase in fuel costs adding to this and making it more expensive for items to be delivered. Labour shortages and increasing wages are also having an effect and combined with supply chain issues it has created a perfect storm that is going to be felt by the consumer.
"I have seen that food inflation is set to increase prices by 5.8% but I think some products will see increases of closer to 20%. Pork, poultry, baked goods and dairy products have seen price increases and as energy costs keep rising there will likely be further ones by the end of the year.
"People are already seeing a real difference in how far their money goes when shopping and while we do all that we can to absorb price increases and it is likely that prices may continue to rise."
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