And that’s because of inflation, i.e. price increases. Last year, 42% of people saved on the quality of food, and in 2020 it was more than 54%. This follows from the current Food barometer survey by Edenred, which was conducted in September of this year on a sample of 1,425 respondents over 18 years of age.
“These data seem optimistic, but there is a well-founded fear that the trend, when people stop saving on food, will soon stop. It is not excluded that after the increase of the value added tax on everything except basic foods, people will again significantly save on the quality of food,” said the company’s PR director Lívia Bachratá.
She added that 64.2% of respondents prefer to save in areas other than food. Six percent of them think that the quality of food is not decisive for them. The survey was also interested in how much of the monthly budget people spend on food. For 29.9% of the people surveyed, spending on food accounts for 20 to 30%. A quarter of respondents said that they spend up to 40% of their monthly budget on food. Every fifth Slovak spends more than 40% on food.
The survey also showed that together with energy, 89% of food items are which people most expect to see their price increase in the coming months. Next comes the increase in prices in catering establishments (86%) and in the area of housing (85%). Bachratá specified that the current optimal meal allowance of 8.30 euros is sufficient for only 18.6% of Slovaks. The remaining almost 81% of respondents consider it either completely (46%) or partially (35%) insufficient.
“Current financial situation for Slovaks does not allow you to treat yourself to a quality lunch in one of the restaurants, for three quarters, i.e. 72.6% of them, home-prepared food is the first choice. Another 15.6% of respondents will solve it with dry food,” she concluded.
