Mediterranean Diets Won’t Shield You From Food Inflation

Overall inflation rates may be slowing across Europe, but the price of ingredients to make traditional dishes in France and Spain highlights how the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation is still raging.

(Bloomberg) — Overall inflation rates may be slowing across Europe, but the price of ingredients to make traditional dishes in France and Spain highlights how the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation is still raging.

Bloomberg’s custom index showed French households had to spend 8.4% more last month to prepare a coq au vin than a year earlier. Data from the country’s National Statistics Office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Nutrition put the total cost at €19.4 ($21.3).

The price of poultry, which is the most expensive ingredient in the dish, rose 6.4%, while butter was up 16.5% from July last year.

That contrasts with headline inflation of 4.3% in the euro area’s second-biggest economy, based on the national measure for consumer-price growth.

A separate Bloomberg gauge showed that making paella, Spain’s national dish, was 15.1% more expensive in July than a year ago due to an almost 40% jump in the cost of olive oil, according to data from the National Statistics Institute.

The country has been experiencing a devastating drought that has more than halved production.

Headline inflation in Spain is among the lowest in the euro zone, easing earlier last year after the government set a cap on surging power prices. As favorable base effects start to fade in the second half of 2023, inflation will likely pick up to average 3.2% this year, according to the Bank of Spain. 

The cost of olive oil is also impacting Italy, where Bloomberg’s Pizza Margherita Index surged 13.5% this month.

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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