Spanish households have stabilized their food purchases the week of April 6 to 12, according to data from the Analysis of consumption at home, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In this fourth week after the declaration of the state of alarm, the volume of food purchases barely increased 0.1% in week 15 of the year compared to the previous week, although it experienced an increase of 36.2% in relation to the same week of 2019.
In this week 15, in relation to the previous week, the increases in products or ingredients related to traditional Easter menus stand out, such as oil (20.6%), eggs (+12.8%) and sugar (+11 , 6%), as well as frozen fish (+12.7%), canned fish (+10.6%) and sheep meat (+20.4%).
During these weeks of confinement, flour and semolina have been experiencing constant growth compared to 2019, with a rise of 15% over the previous week. Likewise, the purchase of bread has also been increasing week by week, reaching a growth of 35.7% in this last week in relation to the same week last year.
Fresh products are very present in shopping baskets, with constant growth every week, among which fresh vegetables and potatoes stand out (+ 44.5%), while fresh fish have a contained consumption. Beer, wine, soft drinks and spirits also maintain significant growth. Similarly, there are constant increases in the consumption of prepared dishes, with a rise of 38% this week.
The stores closest to homes are the preferred places for citizens to shop. Thus, supermarkets and traditional stores recorded increases above the average (+42.1% and +45.2%, respectively), followed by discount stores (+30%) and hypermarkets (+24.1%) .
In recent weeks, online shopping has become an important alternative in the purchase of food. In this last week they exceed 100% increase compared to the same week in 2019.
By geographical area, this week there is a greater increase in consumption in the north, with increases of 52.5% in Cantabria, 45.6% in Navarra and 45.3% in the Basque Country. The communities with the most contained growths are La Rioja (+10.7%), Castilla-La Mancha (+12.5%) and Galicia (+19.1%). The Canary Islands show constant growths week by week.
