The biggest price increase was observed for pantry products, vegetables, and dairy products.
The head of LTVC Inguna Gulbe said that the price increases at the beginning of the year were caused by the consequences of Covid-19, particularly China's “zero tolerance” policy, since China is involved in almost all product production and services chains, adverse weather conditions in several regions of the world, disruption and delays in logistics chains, increases in prices of key resources, and the war in Ukraine.
"Because of the fuss, they bought out salt, buckwheat. We pay the price now because the salt has become twice more expensive and is significantly more expensive than sugar, which is not logical,” Gulbe said.
According to LTVC, the products experiencing the biggest price jump over a span of one year were salt (up 179%) and buckwheat (102%).
In the future, prices will continue to rise, there might be changes in product ingredients and likely a decline in the assortment. Providing a wide range of products costs money, and some companies are already working on a review of their product offer.
