17-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Soaring grocery prices a growing concern among cash-strapped Irish customers
Paying €16.99 for one steak might have you thinking you're eating out and there's a side of chips and salad included in that price.
But Irish shoppers are increasingly facing these shocking prices as they browse local supermarket aisles for beef products.
Premium cuts like striploin, sirloin, or fillet - already at higher price points than beef mince or round steak - can now feel like a raw deal when a single steak costs over the €10 mark, and a serving for two is double that.
To put these price hikes into context, just two years ago, one kilo of minced beef in a leading supermarket cost around €4.50.
Today, the very same product in that same supermarket is €6.50, a 44 per cent increase in just two years. Lower fat mince can reach as high as €7.70 for a 450kg bag.
In its most recent Consumer Price Index, published last week, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) found that prices for consumer goods and services in April of this year rose by 2.2 per cent on average compared with April 2024.
It is the second month in a row where CPI has been at, or above, 2 per cent.
In simple terms, this measure of inflation shows the decline in the value of money in your pocket when you try to do something like the weekly supermarket shop.
A quick inspection of food items shows the national average price of a kilogram of sirloin steak in April 2025 cost €19.48, the same price in April 2024 was €17.36, a 10 per cent increase.
There were price increases in a pound of butter, which is up almost €1 on a year ago, while cheddar cheese is 97 cents more expensive, and two litres of full fat milk is up by 27 cents.
A white sliced pan remains unchanged compared with April of last year at €1.63, brown sliced pan, and a healthier option, is up by 2 cents to €1.86.
The same goes for popular coffee brands. Another price comparison of one product, Lavazza ground coffee (250g), shows it retailed for around €6 in 2023. Today, prices across the supermarket shelves range have shot up from €10 up to €18. That's a 66 per cent increase alone on the cheaper of these two increases.
Coffee prices have surged as a result of climate change. Droughts, floods, soil erosion and crop failures in leading coffee producing countries like Brazil and Kenya are making the commodity scarce, forcing prices up for even the most basic cup on the high street.
Damian O'Reilly, lecturer in Retail Management, TU Dublin, said there's a very good reason why certain foods like meat, have skyrocketed.
"We had a huge hit in 2021 and 2022 with Covid and the Ukraine crisis, which shot prices up significantly worldwide with supply chain issues and labour costs, and the supply of agricultural products and wheat coming from the Ukraine.
"So those things put pressure on prices and we saw an increase of 10 per cent. Now we've reached a new paradigm because there are certain sections like agriculture where prices are going up.
"The simple answer is that we don't have enough cows in the agricultural sector in Ireland.
"The suckler herd has been diminished and we don't have enough supply so prices for beef have gone up. Dairy products have gone up because of ingredient costs and labour costs."
The Irish Farmers' Association said Teagasc, the national farm advisory agency, estimates that farm incomes for beef farmers will be between €10,000 and €17,000 in 2024.
This follows 2023, where incomes in the sector were at a historically low level.
"While food prices have increased notably over the past three years, for over a decade before that, food prices remained unchanged while the other general inflation rose substantially in that same period," said a spokesperson.
"Our survey completed by IFA's Director of Policy Tadhg Buckley shows costs have increased by nearly 75 per cent in the last seven years - that has to make its way through the system. During the same time, farm incomes fell by 34 per cent. Those two statistics are not sustainable.
"There is a high level of transparency around what the farmer gets paid - we report the prices weekly."
Against all of this, consumers are scrambling for the cheapest possible option to manage grocery bills.
Supermarket own brands and promotional offers are already emerging as winners this year as cash-strapped shoppers choose quantity over quality. What all this means for the consumer is a back-to-basics shopping experience.
Siobhan Maguire is a consumer affairs expert, writer and advisor on RTE's consumer affairs show The Complaints Bureau.
