The aggregate average price of a basket of 180 items of commodities sold in supermarkets fell by a slight 0.2% in 2004, closely in line with the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 0.4% for the year.
This price drop was shown conclusively in the latest Consumer Council survey using a new methodology based on the daily scan data from all outlets of three major supermarket chains in the territory.
The methodology fully reflected the actual prices which consumers paid for the surveyed commodities, and was made possible only with the full co-operation of the supermarket chains - Park'n'shop, Wellcome, and CRVanguard (formerly CRC) - in agreeing to the release of the scan data.
The 180 items were selected independently by the Council from a list of some 700 fast-moving supermarket items and were kept confidential from the supermarkets themselves until the survey report was completed.
Overall, supermarket prices were shown to be down by 0.2% last year. But the survey also showed that a significant portion of the price decrease occurred in the first 6 months (January to June) of the year during which a 1.1% decrease was recorded.
In the second half of the year (July to December), the aggregate average price of the 180 items actually went up by 0.8%. Budget conscious consumers will do well to exercise more care in their supermarket shopping as the downward price trend reverses upwards.
For comparison purposes, the commodities surveyed were grouped into eight main categories, namely, bread/biscuits, chill/frozen food, snacks, staple food, non-staple food, drink and beverages, personal care/baby food, paper/household care.
Despite the overall price drop of 0.2% last year, the findings showed that five of the categories, when compared to those of 2003, rose in aggregate average prices from 0.4% to 2.8%.
The categories affected were: staple food (2.8%), non-staple food (1.2%), drink and beverages (1.2%), bread/biscuits (0.5%), and chill/frozen food (0.4%).
However, even under these categories, not all product groups went up in price. For instance, while such daily essential commodities as edible oil and rice, under the staple food category, rose by 3.7% and 3% respectively, sauces declined by 6.3%. Beer (3.4%) was also among the supermarket items risen in price last year.
On the other hand, the remaining three categories were down from 1.3% to 3%: snacks (-1.3%), personal care/baby food (-2.7%), and paper/household care (-3%).
The product groups under these categories with notable price decreases included: sanitary protection (-13.4%), toilet soap (-7.6%), toilet paper/box issue (-5.5%), and shampoo (-4.7%).
It was observed that the falling price trend in personal care items could be attributed to extensive promotional campaigns conducted among personal care chain stores, individual drug stores and pharmacies, and supermarkets.
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