South Africa: Sunflower oil, tomatoes are 30% pricier than a year ago, and other food prices also rocketed

A new analysis by Statistics SA shows how some food prices have rocketed over the past year, with the price of sunflower oil increasing by more than 30% between May last year and May 2021. The average price of a 750ml bottle of sunflower oil was R20,99 a year ago, rising to R29,39 in May, Stats SA reported. Tomatoes are also more than 30% pricier. Heavy rains at the start of the year in the Limpopo valley have ruined tomato harvests, and wreaked havoc on supplies in the country. This has resulted in a price squeeze. Sweet potato prices (up 17% over the past year) have also rocketed. Statistics SA reports that dried beans (+27%) and beef offal (18%) also saw large gains, while chocolate bars grew almost 17% pricier. Surprisingly, white wine prices rose by more than 13%, despite predictions that prices would fall as the SA industry warned of surplus stock of 300 million litres of wine following the alcohol sales bans. This is the equivalent of total wine sales in the country in the ...