“Yet Salaries Are Barely Adjusted”: Advert of Grocery Prices in 2019 Gives SA Chest Pains

An old Checkers grocery pamphlet from July 2019 has taken South Africans by surprise after a Reddit post shared the prices online. The picture showed just how dramatically the cost of living has changed in just seven years.

The post, shared by Reddit user WTK23, quickly went viral as locals flooded the comments with disbelief.

Back in 2019, shoppers could grab Pringles chips for R15.99 and Sunshine D butter spread for R24.99 per kilogram. Albany bread sat at R10.99 for a 700g loaf, and a kilogram of McCain Stir Fry cost R29.99. Those same items would cost significantly more today, a reality that is hitting South Africans hard.

Seven years of hurt

The rand has lost roughly 35% of its purchasing power since 2019, meaning that what cost R1 back then now costs about R1.35. But economists say official inflation numbers do not always tell the full story at the till.

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Many individual products on shelves have increased by 80%, 90%, and in some cases more than 100% since the early 2020s, highlighting the growing gap between statistical averages and what consumers actually pay.

Several forces collided to make groceries more expensive. South Africa’s food price inflation was made worse by ongoing load shedding, which pushed costs higher across the entire supply chain. Farmers, livestock producers, and food companies were all forced to buy backup generators, and when those failed, spoilage costs mounted.

The Russia-Ukraine war added more pressure. Fuel and food prices soared globally after the conflict disrupted commodity markets, with grain-related products and vegetable oils among the hardest hit.

Between 2021 and 2026, South Africa saw some of its highest fuel prices ever recorded, and wage growth still lagged far behind many staple food increases. The national minimum wage rose by around 39% over that period, while food prices in many categories outpaced it significantly.

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South Africans in the comments put it simply: the pamphlet stings because the numbers are real.

See the post here:

More about food prices

• A nostalgic Reddit post showing a South African 1976 KFC menu has left many social media users stunned by the incredibly low food prices.
• A woman posted about Woolworths' ready-made meals that they recently released for the festive season at a luxury level.
• A TikTok video showing the price of Woolworths hot chocolate drinks left many South Africans surprised, but not for the usual reason.

Source: Briefly News