Inflation and the cost of living.

MaizieD

GrannyGravy13

MaizieD in our family it’s the price of Toblerone’s , along with how many peaks per bar.

This began with my mother many years ago 🤷‍♀️

But why Freddos? They're not British, are they. I have never ever seen one in the course of seventy plus years of sweet purchasing.

They used to be British frogs, but no longer since Mondelez took over Cadbury.
They also took over Toblerone, GrannyGravy 😲

My children liked one occasionally and older DGC but I've not seen one for years. It's uncertain where they are made, possibly UK or Ireland.

In October 2024, Labour MP Patrick Hurley launched a campaign to reduce the price of the Freddo as a way to engage young people in politics and discussions about the cost of living crisis.
😀

They are Cadbury now owned by Mondelez.

The recent spike is to do with climate change and crop failure but before that I blame bankers, the Tories and Brexit as this chart clearly shows.

thefreddoindex.com/

The spike in 2007 was also to do with salmonella contamination for which Cadbury received a hefty fine - passed on to customers, no doubt.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddo

MaizieD

GrannyGravy13

MaizieD in our family it’s the price of Toblerone’s , along with how many peaks per bar.

This began with my mother many years ago 🤷‍♀️

But why Freddos? They're not British, are they. I have never ever seen one in the course of seventy plus years of sweet purchasing.

They have been around in U.K. since 1973, Cadbury’s. Our children used to buy one with their pocket money.

They originated in Australia in the 1930’s

GrannyGravy13

MaizieD in our family it’s the price of Toblerone’s , along with how many peaks per bar.

This began with my mother many years ago 🤷‍♀️

But why Freddos? They're not British, are they. I have never ever seen one in the course of seventy plus years of sweet purchasing.

Whitewavemark2

Better still was to go into the fields and pick wild mushrooms.

No other mushroom has such a lovely flavour - fried with bacon - food for the gods. (Yes I’m ignoring the nitrates☺️)

Unfortunately I became violently allergic to wild mushrooms, which is a bit frustrating when I find them in my fields. I discovered this the hard way

Tame ones are absolutely fine , we eat them all the time. They must be a completely different variety.

MaizieD in our family it’s the price of Toblerone’s , along with how many peaks per bar.

This began with my mother many years ago 🤷‍♀️

Now people eat ice cream almost daily, can afford to eat strawberries all year round and children seem unable to leave the house unless clutching a packet of sweets or bag of crisps.

This is what free market capitalism is all about, MOnica.

Better still was to go into the fields and pick wild mushrooms.

No other mushroom has such a lovely flavour - fried with bacon - food for the gods. (Yes I’m ignoring the nitrates☺️)

Mollygo

Allira

It doesn't matter what the nutritional value is; the Freddo Index is a satirical one.
fullfact.org/online/freddos-vs-inflation/

Surely no-one is really taking it really seriously?

Oh yes they are! 🤣🤣

I have worked out that a Freddo is some sort of chocolate bar, but I don't think I have ever even seen one, let alone purchased one, in my entire life.

Why are they a benchmark (albeit a satirical one)?

David49

"the ability to afford small indulgences is an important indicator of economic and social health. We can all agree here."

It's not the small indulgences that are the problem, its the big ones, compared with 50 yrs ago those that can afford it are spending a great deal deal more on holiday, homes, cars technology and services.
It's only economic health for those that can afford it, at the expense of those that cannot afford it

Completely agree. Many of the little indulgences that made life so pleasant when younger, were because we were less well off, so Saturday sweets, an ice cream in summer, even ripe strawberries were all little indulgences, that lightened up life.

I can remember that for a few years we lived near a mushroom farm and on Saturday my DF would walk round to buy mushroom stalks(only) for 6d a uarter pound, to eat with our Sunday cooked breakfast. That uarter pound was spread across 5 breakfasts, and I did not grow up in a poor family.

Now people eat ice cream almost daily, can afford to eat strawberries all year round and children seem unable to leave the house unless clutching a packet of sweets or bag of crisps.

"the ability to afford small indulgences is an important indicator of economic and social health. We can all agree here."

It's not the small indulgences that are the problem, its the big ones, compared with 50 yrs ago those that can afford it are spending a great deal deal more on holiday, homes, cars technology and services.
It's only economic health for those that can afford it, at the expense of those that cannot afford it

RosiesMawagain

^We don’t need a lecture^
Doesn’t mean you won’t get one though! 🤣🤣🤣

Now that made me laugh! Thanks.

We don’t need a lecture
Doesn’t mean you won’t get one though! 🤣🤣🤣

Everybody knows a potato is more filling and has more nutritional value than a chocolate bar. We don't need a lecture.

For some people the so called cost of living crisis is indeed that.

Graphite I can’t get excited about the price of a chocolate bar although I take the point made in The Times article … here it is with the paywall removed

archive.is/20251120150950/https://www.thetimes.com/money/family-finances/article/price-of-freddo-2025-uk-inflation-economy-qg9sgnl8t#selection-3667.89-3671.202

the ability to afford small indulgences is an important indicator of economic and social health. We can all agree here.

Reading the article, what struck me the most is that the UK’s food inflation rate (4.9%) is so much higher than Italy (2.7%), Spain 2.4% and France 1.3%

A reliance on imported food is one contributing factor, because the price of imported food products has risen at twice the rate of domestic food, according to the Office for National Statistics.In countries that produce more of their own food, prices have not gone up as much, as their food inflation figures for October show.

Perhaps the Times article was pointing how people could lower outgoings by avoiding imported food products, takeaways, and unnecessary foods.

Allira

It doesn't matter what the nutritional value is; the Freddo Index is a satirical one.
fullfact.org/online/freddos-vs-inflation/

Surely no-one is really taking it really seriously?

Oh yes they are! 🤣🤣

I can’t get excited about the price of a chocolate bar although I take the point made in The Times article … here it is with the paywall removed:

archive.is/20251120150950/https://www.thetimes.com/money/family-finances/article/price-of-freddo-2025-uk-inflation-economy-qg9sgnl8t#selection-3667.89-3671.202

the ability to afford small indulgences is an important indicator of economic and social health.

Reading the article, what struck me the most is that the UK’s food inflation rate (4.9%) is so much higher than Italy (2.7%), Spain 2.4% and France 1.3% …

A reliance on imported food is one contributing factor, because the price of imported food products has risen at twice the rate of domestic food, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In countries that produce more of their own food, prices have not gone up as much, as their food inflation figures for October show.

Another point made is that the less expensive supermarkets undercut the price of the Mondelez/Cadbury Freddo with their own brands. Aldi has its own version of the Freddo in Deeno the dinosaur. A multipack of ten Deenos cost £1.99, compared with £1.40 for four Freddos at other supermarkets so one can still buy an equivalent for 20p.

It doesn't matter what the nutritional value is; the Freddo Index is a satirical one.
fullfact.org/online/freddos-vs-inflation/

Surely no-one is really taking it really seriously?

Graphite I agree with M0nica. Potatoes are far more nutritious and a good source of slow-release energy ... and inexpensive.

A baking potato costing 20p and taking no more than 12 minutes to cook (6 minutes each in the microwave then the airfryer to crisp the skin, a salad side and that's lunch for about 50p. A single Freddo costs 45p £25 (yes, pounds) a kg versus a humble spud 79p a kg.

Agreed.

We eat potatoes for lunch often. Also, there are typically a few cooked, ready to peel and chop, in fridge - easy to fry, make into soup, add to cold salads.

Food producers are getting pretty bad deal because the staple foods - bread, milk, beans etc etc are sold below cost, so unless there is a shortage of supply producers loose money.

The point I was making is that potatoes are inexpensive, nutritious and easy to cook and far, far better value than a chocolate bar.

Fair enough.

… Plus that won’t feed a hungry working man at lunchtime. Well not those that I know.

I never said it would although it does me after a busy working in the garden.

My decorator, who has just finished another job for me, always works solidly from 8:00am to 4:00pm with just a ten minute break midday for a flask of soup.

It was Reform’s Lee Anderson’s (then a Tory) who claimed in 2022 that one could cook a meal from scratch for about 30p. That meal was three spoons of stew, curry, stroganoff etc from a small plastic cup. £50 spent on food for a Ready Steady Cook challenge at the local college. Food cooked by a professional chef (using store cupboard ingredients as they did on TV) and served in 175 little cups. £50/175 = £0.29.

The point I was making is that potatoes are inexpensive, nutritious and easy to cook and far, far better value than a chocolate bar.

Another staple is milk. Now 1.75 for 4 pints and fairly recently was 1.20. I only hope the farmers are getting a fair price.

They are not. Milk price they get gone down from about 40p per litre or whatever it is to 30p. Fairly recently. I overheard.

A baking potato costing 20p and taking no more than 12 minutes to cook (6 minutes each in the microwave then the airfryer to crisp the skin, a salad side and that's lunch for about 50p

Per person.
Plus that wont feed a hungry working man at lunchtime. Well not those that I know.

Another staple is milk. Now 1.75 for 4 pints and fairly recently was 1.20. I only hope the farmers are getting a fair price. In fact I noticed yesterday a 2 pinter was the same price as a 4 pinter in the last couple of years. So effectively has doubled.