More expensive coffee from the machine, small dishes that are no longer so economical given the rise in the price of our groceries, more expensive restaurant menus… These are all reasons to deplore a more ruinous lunch break at the office. than before the crisis. A situation that the Anglo-Saxons deplore with a neologism: “lunchflation”, contraction of lunch (lunch in English) and inflation.
Over one year, consumer prices increased by 5.2% in May, according to INSEE figures. This will not have escaped any motorist: gasoline is more expensive, and that’s not all. Food shopping is also pushing us to check labels more, given the rise in prices, up 4.2%. According to the magazine 60 million consumers, which published a study by NielsenIQ a few days ago, consumer products could see a price increase of 7% this summer, which would force households to increase their budget by 30 euros per month. month.
In fact, pasta prices have increased by 19.9% when it comes to a brand and even 43% for entry-level macaroni. Frozen ground beef is 12.8% more expensive while first price eggs are 10.2% more expensive. And then there is also flour, oil and coffee, which show higher prices of around 10%.
Budget on the rise
With the return to the office, preparing good meals therefore costs more than before the health crisis. A rising budget that coffee breaks can’t even soften given soaring prices. In one year, the price of arabica has increased by nearly 40%. Unfortunately, the inflation is not expected to stop there due to the destruction of nearly 30% of the coffee crops in Brazil, where regions suffered from frost and flooding. The small kawa which is essential when one arrives in the morning at the office thus displays a tariff increase of five cents.
The solution: lunch at the restaurant? Unfortunately, the increase in food prices also concerns restaurateurs who have only two solutions to survive: erase from their slate a dish that would cost too much to cook, otherwise pass on the increase to the prices on the menu. One in four restaurant owners would have been forced to opt for this second solution since the beginning of the year.
