Tomato is the villain of the dish made and meal tickets last fewer days

The price of the dish made has risen 23% in a year and Brazilians, who have seen the food stamps run out before the month, change the menu to save on meals out.

Prepared by Ibre-FGV (Brazilian Institute of Economics of Fundação Getulio Vargas), the inflation of the dish made takes into account the variation of ten items: rice, carioca beans, black beans, lettuce, potato, onion, tomato, chicken pieces, eggs and beef. The biggest rise was that of tomatoes, which more than doubled in price in the period.

Between May of last year and April 2022, the average price of the products that make up the dish made accumulates a rise of more than 23%. The IPC-M (Consumer Price Index – Market), from the same institute, rose 10.37% in the same period. And the IPCA-15, inflation measured by the IBGE, increased by 12.03% until April.

“The new focus of food inflation in hortifrutis is very clear, due to the excess of rains in several producing places, the advance of inflation in lettuce, potatoes and tomatoes, especially in tomatoes, which accumulates an inflation of 127% in the last 12 months”, says Matheus Peçanha, researcher and economist at Ibre-FGV, responsible for the survey.

The survey also shows that rice and beans, especially black beans, accumulate deflation in relation to the previous period, after the production of 2020 and 2021 suffered from La Niña (climate phenomenon that causes an increase in heavy rains in the North and Northeast country and drought in the south).

According to Peçanha, however, the drop was not enough to recover the price recorded in 2019, but it already indicates a good recovery of these items. “The good news is that these weather problems won’t last forever. We have to wait until spring to see if the price stagnates,” he says.

“And in the case of proteins, [os números] show how they are still feeling the impact of this inflation in the field, soy and corn, for example, ends up reaching these proteins to the point that chicken accelerated more than beef, which still accumulates a high of 12%”, says the researcher .

The rise in prices also reduced the purchasing power of food stamps, as well as their duration. According to an overview of Fipe (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas), in partnership with Alelo, a banner specializing in corporate benefits, the number of consecutive days needed to use up the balance credited monthly by employers in February 2022 was, on average, 24 days. In the same period of 2020, pre-pandemic, it was 27 days.

The study, which gathers data and indicators compiled from other surveys such as Novo CAGED, Pnad Contínua, Diesse and ABBT (Brazilian Association of Employee Benefits Companies), records that the average value of food stamps dropped from R$ 465.20, in February 2020, to R$ 415.30 in the second month of this year.

Bank clerk Marcelo Freitas, 37, says that the value of a kilo at the restaurant where he usually has lunch, in downtown São Paulo, has increased by around R$10 and, although he considers the R$42 he receives as a meal ticket good, he has saved money. .

“To continue eating without using more of the meal ticket, I and some other colleagues reduced the amount of food on the plate. From 500 grams I started to eat 400 grams, on average”, he says.

Restaurants have also adapted so as not to lose customers. According to Freitas, where he frequents, more noble cuts of meat, such as picanha and filet mignon, have disappeared from the buffet.

The social project supervisor, Pedro Figueiredo de Moraes, 37, receives a voucher of R$27 per day and has spent between R$26 and R$29 for an all-you-can-eat lunch during the week in Vila Mariana (south zone) and has also changed his habits to reach the end of the month with the benefit.

“And that price for all you can eat only goes up. I remember that around 2018 it was around R$16. I’ve been getting more salad and protein, much less rice, potatoes, which weigh a little more. I stopped getting pastelzinho, spring rolls Many restaurants here in the region also closed, I don’t know if this could have influenced prices”, says Moraes.

This Tuesday (9), he opted for the dish made of the day, for around R$22: chicken stroganoff, with rice and salad, but without the traditional side potato. “Restaurants also don’t include dessert anymore. They only have some chocolates to buy at the cashier”, he says.

“On feijoada days, I haven’t seen crackling anymore, especially in restaurants where you can eat all you want. And it’s only with sausage, dried meat has decreased a lot”, says the supervisor.

Systems analyst Ulisses Schulz Realino Lima, 37, works in Limão (north zone) and has spent around R$18 of the R$25 he receives in food stamps a day, opting for just chicken and salad.

“I order chicken fillet, sausage sausage or omelet. My wife works in Rio Pequeno, and has spent R$ 23 in the PF”, he says.

According to Fipe, the results point to the diffusion and persistence of the effects of inflation on the purchasing power of wages and benefits of workers, due to the weight of items related to food, especially in the consumption basket of the poorest.