By the end of May, ISET’s Retail Food Price Index increased by 5.5% y/y (compared to May 2016); on a monthly basis (compared to April 2017), retail food prices slightly decreased, by 0.4%. The largest bi-weekly price changes were recorded for seasonal food products such as fresh fruit and vegetables. Prices dropped the most for tomatoes (-28%), garlic (-21%), and cucumber (-8.3%).

Retail food prices increased by 3.4% on an annual basis (that is, compared to May 2016), but decreased by 1.2% on a monthly basis (that is, compared to April 2017). The biggest price increase was for cabbage, potatoes, and peaches (76.5%, 30.2%, and 17.5%, respectively).

By the end of April, food prices increased by 4.0% on an annual basis (that is, compared to April 2016) but decreased by 0.9% on a monthly basis (that is, compared to March 2017). During the last two weeks of April, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes showed the biggest increase in prices by 23.2%, 13.5%, and 10.1%, respectively.

By the end of March, food prices increased by 4.4% y/y (that is, compared to March 2016) and by 1.6% m/m (that is, compared to February 2017). On a biweekly basis, the biggest price increases happened for coriander (40.3%), cucumber (30.0%), and eggplant (14.9%). Carrots, onions, and tomatoes, on the contrary, became cheaper and cost 22.1%, 24.4%, and 15.0% less, respectively.

In the last few decades, large supermarkets (referring to all modern retail, which includes chain stores of various formats such as hypermarkets, convenience and neighborhood stores) have changed the retail business landscape in many countries through larger store formats, more shelf space, an increased variety of goods and services, and extensive marketing strategies.