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Rising cost of food across the globe. How much is a weekly shop in Poland now in 2013.


Maybe 12 | 409
10 Mar 2013 #1
I am really looking forward to returning to Poland because the UK is just becoming too expensive to live in.
I have just returned from Tescos , we are shopping for two of us and the bill came to £105, we did not buy any particularly luxurious goods, 1 bottle of wine and two bottles of beer, the rest was staples meat, milk, yogurt, fruit, pasta etc nothing special. This will last us a week. I am aware that if we chose another supermarket or shopped for vegetables in a market we could reduce our expenditure, however, this would mean more travel (petrol) and take up more time, which we don't have.

Is food in Poland proportionately as expensive as food in the UK?
Monitor 14 | 1,818
10 Mar 2013 #2
According to this site:

"Consumer Prices in Krakow (Cracow) are 50.45% lower than in Manchester" - there are single food products mentioned.

But when comparing prices of basic goods let's say in Lidl stores across Europe, then difference is not so big any more:



according to this basket of goods (although quite small) it's only 11% cheaper in Poland when comparing to Germany.
milky 13 | 1,657
10 Mar 2013 #3
according to this basket of goods (although quite small) it's only 11% cheaper in Poland when comparing to Germany.

and wages are four times lower in Poland, so....
rozumiemnic 8 | 3,861
10 Mar 2013 #4
, we are shopping for two of us and the bill came to £105,

either you eat too much or you are not budgeting at all.
pip 10 | 1,659
10 Mar 2013 #5
I do my groceries at Simply. It is not a big box store but a smaller one owned by Auchan. We are a family of four- I do the groceries once a week and I spend about 375 pln.

But, I don't buy and prepared foods or anything in a box. I buy all whole foods.

Is the British pound at 1:5 right now? So your bill is like 500 pln? what are you buying?
OP Maybe 12 | 409
10 Mar 2013 #6
Neither of us eat too much and we are budgeting, this is staples only. Bonkers.
rozumiemnic 8 | 3,861
10 Mar 2013 #7
'staples'? for £105 a week? okkkk...perhaps invest in a cook book or something?
milky 13 | 1,657
10 Mar 2013 #8
we are shopping for two of us and the bill came to £105

you must be fat people
pip 10 | 1,659
10 Mar 2013 #9
what exactly do you consider staples?
peterweg 37 | 2,311
10 Mar 2013 #10
I have just returned from Tescos

You do realise they are incredibly expensive? They have 1000% markup on fruit and veg, the cost of food in the UK is a rip-off.

Expect it to go up a lot more as they inflate debt away.
Paulina 16 | 4,249
10 Mar 2013 #11
You do realise they are incredibly expensive? They have 1000% markup on fruit and veg, the cost of food in the UK is a rip-off.

I don't know how it's like in the UK, but Tesco definitely isn't the cheapest supermarket in Poland. Real is cheaper than Tesco, for example.
peterweg 37 | 2,311
10 Mar 2013 #12
There is no connection with the price of food and what supermarkets charge.

Flour for instance, 10% of the price is the cost that the farmer gets.
jon357 74 | 21,767
10 Mar 2013 #13
How much you're weekly shop costs depends partially on how big your family is, how expensive your tastes are and whether or not you entertain. It depends entirely on how much you can afford. 100gbp per week wouldn't be that unusual in PL for a fairly well-off couple who drink wine with meals and eat a lot of imported things. Most people spend far less.

In the UK, food prices are a problem. A friend who's a religious minister runs a food bank from her church - demand for her church's service is rocketing and food will not get cheaper in any country.

It's the same in Poland, except wages there are not high - there's a lot of people getting by on $500 a month. And what's worse is that food prices will only rise and rise. Look at the way share prices for food producers have been rising, not to mention Poland's economic growth due in very large part to being a major food exporter with access to EU markets.

@Rozumiemnic's comment about cooking makes a lot of sense. Poland, like the UK is very much a country of processed foods right now, though a lot more people might find themselves learning to use a sieve, yeast and a mixer over the next few years.
Xromium 2 | 21
10 Mar 2013 #14
Depends on where you shop ... a good Biedronka near you would be ok - affordable and even has banana's in it !!
OP Maybe 12 | 409
10 Mar 2013 #15
I'm not going to list my shopping and no neither of us are fat...lol

Well the vegetables are way over priced. 1 Avocado £1, small pack of blue berries £2, chicken to roast £5, 4 btls badoit water £3.50 etc
Let me tell you given my alternative supermarkets nearby are Mark&Spencers, Sainsburys and Waitrose, Tescos is the best option.

Living in the South East of England is extortionate. a 3 bedroom house where i live costs around £1500 a month rent before bills and the fking council tax is nearly £200 a month.

The food prices have in the last 6 months have leapt up. This time last year the same weekly shop cost us around £70, it is now around £100 to £120.

That is a crazy leap.

The Arab Spring started because of food prices spiralling out of control.

When i was last living full time in Poland 2 years ago we used to spend around 200zl a week for our food shop.
jon357 74 | 21,767
10 Mar 2013 #16
I don't think you'd find much difference between UK and PL nowadays. The blueberries you mention are expensive out-of-season in Poland too.
grubas 12 | 1,384
10 Mar 2013 #17
Well the vegetables are way over priced. 1 Avocado £1, small pack of blue berries £2, chicken to roast £5, 4 btls badoit water £3.50 etc

Poland is a country of cheap and very good quality domestic vegetables and fruits but imported food is expensive.I would even say that some veggies are TOO CHEAP in PL.Last summer when in PL I stopped by a road side stall were potatoes were sold and bought I think 15 or 20 kg bag of potatoes for 5 PLN.Yes,5 PLN for the whole bag!It's a shame,I don't understand how farmers can make any money at this price.I don't remember what I was paying for strawberries and raspberries but they weren't expensive either.

Edit:I think strawberries were 4 PLN/kg.
rozumiemnic 8 | 3,861
10 Mar 2013 #18
The food prices have in the last 6 months have leapt up

that is certainly true but i dont think that is restricted to UK
jon357 74 | 21,767
10 Mar 2013 #19
cheap and very good quality domestic vegetables

Average for Europe and increasingly treated with pesticides.

strawberries and raspberries but they weren't expensive either.

There's such a glut of them in season that they're very cheap outside Warsaw. In Warsaw, the people who sell them on the street (who by the way get them from the wholesalers) make a killing.

15 or 20 kg bag of potatoes for 5 PLN.Yes,5 PLN for the whole bag!It's a shame,I don't understand how farmers can make any money at this price

They pay no tax and have huge amounts of spuds.
peterweg 37 | 2,311
10 Mar 2013 #20
drink wine with meals

Thats more than the cost of food. Wine is expensive in Poland, hence not many people drink it on a regular basis.
grubas 12 | 1,384
10 Mar 2013 #21
Average for Europe and increasingly treated with pesticides.

They were always treated with some kind of pesticides.What do you think?Anyway,I compare them with "plastic"/juiceless American fruits and veggies and Polish ones would be sold here as ORGANIC at twice the regular price.

They pay no tax and have huge amounts of spuds.

Still,I doubt they make any money at 25 gr (less than US dime!)/kg!
peterweg 37 | 2,311
10 Mar 2013 #22
I don't think you'd find much difference between UK and PL nowadays

Much more expensive in the UK, no question.

Yes,5 PLN for the whole bag!It's a shame,I don't understand how farmers can make any money at this price

Father in law got 7grz per kg last year for his potatoes. Bad year for potatoes and he planted them instead of wheat which was very high.

They pay no tax and have huge amounts of spuds.

And they don't make any money on them
rozumiemnic 8 | 3,861
10 Mar 2013 #23
4 btls badoit water £3.50 etc

there's your answer.....how can u complain about the price of 'staples' when u r spending money on what is probably bottled tap water?
jon357 74 | 21,767
10 Mar 2013 #24
Much more expensive in the UK, no question.

I don't see that at all - though perhaps it depends where you are in each country - the Shetlands or London v. Podlasie, or on the other hand Warsaw v. South Yorkshire.

Thats more than the cost of food. Wine is expensive in Poland, hence not many people drink it on a regular basis.

Wine IS food for some of us - and sales are growing fast in Poland.
milky 13 | 1,657
10 Mar 2013 #25
maybe food items are 40-60% cheaper, but wages are 4-6 times lower
Vishal210386 1 | 3
11 Mar 2013 #26
Hi,
This is Vishal from india.
How much PLN is required for daily 3 times food and drinks in the night.
I mean regular food & beverage expenses for a single person in mragowo.
Monitor 14 | 1,818
11 Mar 2013 #27
"I don't see that at all - though perhaps it depends where you are in each country - the Shetlands or London v. Podlasie, or on the other hand Warsaw v. South Yorkshire." Lidl and Biedronka have same prices in whole Poland.

"maybe food items are 40-60% cheaper, but wages are 4-6 times lower" - come on, just stop it. Of course Poland is poorer than top richest countries in the world. Why food prices should be lower in Poland? There is single market = no taxes on import export, so only difference in price should make: higher labor, renting and transport costs in UK. It's doesn't add much overhead when sold in big shopping malls. So don't connect food prices with salaries. If food was way cheaper in Poland than elsewhere in Europe that would simply mean that free market is malfunctioning. And salaries are low because Poland was always technologically lacking to the most advanced countries. (in some period of history less and in others more)
Dreadnought 1 | 143
11 Mar 2013 #28
It all depends on whether you are a city dweller or a village dweller. All the people around here grow loads of their own produce and pickle it/store it overwinter.....weekly shop is therefore obviously a lot less than for a city person who has to buy it all? (Village people are usually a lot less well off too but think of the ones who are not!!! they eat well and only need to buy those little luxuries...lot to be said for country life)
milky 13 | 1,657
11 Mar 2013 #29
"maybe food items are 40-60% cheaper, but wages are 4-6 times lower" - come on, just stop it. Of course Poland is poorer than top richest countries in the world.

OK , agreed, just making the point, the question is in comparison to the UK. So you are far better off in a richer country.
Grzegorz_ 51 | 6,149
11 Mar 2013 #30
And salaries are low because Poland was always technologically lacking to the most advanced countries. (in some period of history less and in others more)

Sure. That's obvious. Some people just don't want to face reality for one reason or another... 40-60% cheaper, right... especially all those stuff imported from Holland, Spain etc. :)))


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