With Accelerating Inflation, Brazilians Are Losing The Achievements That Came With The Real Plan – The Economy

Price shock that led to Inflation in March at 1.62%, Highest mark for the month in 28 years, and that in the past 12 months at 11.30% has caused a surprising loss in consumption achievements for Brazilians since real plan. cShow me yogurt, cheese, stuffed biscuits, items that have become available in recent decadesNow they leave the shopping list of a part of the population – the most obvious example of the case of Loss of income, rising unemployment and rising costs.

In recent months, 73.1% of consumers have stopped buying meatalmost latin10% Yogurt, Cheese, Dairy and alcoholic beverages and nearly 6% did not take home crackers and beansthe staple food, reveals his research Food Retail Federation of the State of São Paulo (Sincovaga), made and acquired by JFP Consultoria stadium.

The study, which heard 200 consumers with a family income of up to Ten minimum wages (12,120 BRL) when they were shopping in supermarkets in São Paulo, it shows 52% have stopped consuming some products Among foods and drinks in nature materials and cleaning materials. With prices skyrocketing, 79% of respondents started taking home a smaller amount of items.

Doorman Marcelo Domingos dos Santos, 50 years old, is one of those who put limits on consumption. spend the day 700 Brazilian Real Shopping in the supermarket, without taking everything he needs home, where he lives with his wife and two children. Until recently, I paid 500 Brazilian Real He left the supermarket with a full cart.

“It’s been a year since we cut back on meat. Even land is hard to buy,” he says. Yogurt, one of the symbols of the consumption improvement brought about by Plano Real, does not even remember when he last bought it.

With expensive gasoline, the choice is the neighborhood market

The change in Brazilian consumption habits caused by spiraling inflation goes beyond limiting the quantities of basic products purchased and eliminating other products. It also affects the choice of when and where to buy. Is this strong fuel increase Additional transportation costs charged.

Sincovaga’s survey, for example, showed that 67% of consumers shop less frequently and Almost half (46%) admit that the increase in the price of fuel affects the choice of store where it was calculated. become a favorite neighborhood marketWhere you can go on foot. This is the place chosen by 46.3% of respondents, bypassing supermarkets (29.6%), hypermarkets (22.2%) and even online commerce (20.4%).

Due to less movement in these enterprises and slower turnover of goods, Alvaro Furtado, President of Sincovaga, shows that the neighborhood store takes longer to update prices. Also for this reason, the neighborhood store gains consumer preference in a high inflation environment, he argues.

Researching prices (75.3%), prioritizing promotions (61%) and trying more affordable brands (59.7%) were the strategies used to make the purchase fit within the budget.

double exchange

One of the research findings that has attracted a lot of attention is that within two years, Since the beginning of the epidemic, 67% of respondents have already switched product brands twice in order to save. “This is the picture of poverty,” Furtado says. The rebranding shows that those who need to put food on the table are buying what money allows, he says. “Double-branding (downgrading) indicates the seriousness of the economic and social situation we are in,” says the retail consultant. Eugênio Foganholo, Partner at Mixxer Desenvolvimento Empresarial.

In addition to the sharp rise in prices for many items, affected by the recent war between Ukraine and Russia, the background to these changes in consumption, according to Furtado and Fuganhulu, is the damage that inflation has done on incomes, reducing purchases of citizens. Ability.

In the quarter ending February, the latest available data, and The median real income of a worker, which also includes the informal attribute, was R$2,511, an 8.8% lower result compared to the same period in 2021, according to an ongoing national household sample survey conducted by the IBGE.

This image is repeated for official employees of private companies. In the last 12 months to February, 55.7% of lost adjustments due to inflationQ 15.1% only managed to make up for losses and only 29.2% exceeded inflation, indicates “Salariometer” of the Institute for Economic Research (Fipe) FoundationWhich monitors the results of negotiations compiled by the Ministry of Economy.

For Furtado, the current moment is worse compared to other periods of high inflation in the past. This is because, although wages are outdated, they have been corrected in the past, saving the purchasing power of the consumer. “Today, however, this gap (the difference) is significant,” he assesses.

In Fuganhulu’s opinion, both moments – from Hyperinflation before Plano Real And the current inflationary shock – appalling. However, he is of the opinion that in the 1990s Brazilians were more willing to live in an inflationary environment. “After more than 25 years of tamed inflation, this process has unfortunately returned, and the big shock was the sudden change in which I realized that the state that was meant for consumption no longer exists.”