Food prices may rise even higher

We have all noticed rising living costs over the past couple of years.

The supply chain problems caused by the Covid pandemic have led to significant hikes in consumer prices, not least food prices.

And now the war in Ukraine is likely to compound this problem, says Niels Mortensen, CEO of the SMS consortium, which owns grocery chains Bónus, Mylnan and Miklagarður.

The price of flour went up 30 percent at the start of this year, and yesterday the price increased by a further 15 percent, he says.

“Ukraine is one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, so we may well be seeing even higher flour prices soon.”

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The price of other food products such as fruits and vegetables, meats and frozen foods has also seen a recent surge.

“Food prices tend to increase in January of each year. This is usually due to relatively predictable factors such as annual wage increases,” he explains.

“But other factors are now coming into play, such as rapidly rising transport costs, and we should not be surprised to see further price hikes across all food categories.”

Mortensen does not, however, believe that the situation in Ukraine will evolve into a global food crisis.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

Translated by prosa.fo.

More Faroese News in English.