Audience of Auxílio Brasil intends to buy meat and milk again, says survey

Beef and milk are the main products that Auxílio Brasil beneficiaries have stopped buying in recent months and intend to consume again after the benefit was increased to R$600.

The conclusion is from a survey released by Asserj (Supermarkets Association of the State of Rio de Janeiro).

The survey was produced over the last two weekends in four supermarkets in the north and west of Rio. According to the entity, 425 consumers agreed to answer the questions.

Around 42% said they received funds from some income supplement program from the federal government. Hands down, Auxílio Brasil was the most cited by the group (92%). Benefits paid for the purchase of gas (31%) and allowances for truck drivers (1%) and taxi drivers (3%) were also mentioned.

According to the survey, beef (80%) was the most remembered item among those who stopped buying products in recent months and intend to resume consumption from transfers. Milk and dairy products (57%) appear next.

Chicken meat (45%), cleaning products (44%), breads, cakes and cookies (43%) and personal hygiene products (41%) are also among the highlighted goods. The answers are cumulative.

“The reading shows that we have a repressed demand”, says Ana Paula Rosa, general director of Asserj. She projects a heating up of sales from the benefits in the second half.

The Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government is betting on measures such as the expansion of Auxílio Brasil to mitigate the impacts of the loss of purchasing power of Brazilians on the eve of the elections.

Food shortages mainly affect the poorest, who are less able to face the increases.

Meat, for example, rose throughout the pandemic with heated demand in the international market and rising production costs, according to analysts.

Milk, which has recently started to cost more than gasoline, was also impacted by cost pressure. The off-season period, which should last until September or October, is another factor associated with inflation on the shelves.

For Rosa, from Asserj, a “clearer” reduction in food prices should still take some time, because supermarkets represent the final link in the production chain.

In this sense, she says that stores work with inventories that have absorbed previous increases. “Everything is now a matter of negotiation with the supply chain”, she says.

Driven by the fall in fuel and electricity prices, the IPCA-15 (National Index of Consumer Prices 15) had deflation (fall) of 0.73% in August.

It is the lowest rate since the beginning of the historical series, which began in November 1991, indicated this Wednesday (24) the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

The food and beverage group, however, rose again. The rise in prices was 1.12%. Driven by milk, the variation was the largest among the nine groups of goods and services surveyed in the IPCA-15.