Inflation!

#inflation #price #raw materials #garden #garden center #spring #trade

The anti-inflation basket, red march, the explosion of prices… Inflation is upon us!

Shopping is no fun right now. We are all becoming attentive to labels, to the price per kilo, per liter… In this context, what about garden products? Fortunately, by making a vegetable garden, we will all make big savings…

Inflation

With pensions, this is THE topic of the moment! And again, we can link the two easily. Inflation has galloped since after Covid, and if we add a little war here, a little uncertainty there, we end up with prices that terrify us…

According to INSEE, between January 2022 and January 2023, all prices rose by 6%. We are told about a red march for food distribution. And even if efforts are made during this spring, we could end up with a high-risk summer! If you’ve never seen supermarket trolleys fly by, look up at the sky, you might see a few passing by.

No laughing matter in any case for low wages, and even for average wages. We are not talking about energies, and even less about the price of materials for the building… It is not the right season to build a new garden centre!

So in this atmosphere, it is certain that second-need products, such as small flowers or decoration, could suffer! It is still necessary to determine what is “first necessity”. This notion can vary from one individual to another depending on his passions.

In this period, we will have to make choices.

We could tighten our belts on accessories and futile services, and focus on savings by investing, for example, in the vegetable garden…

In the garden too!

The garden is no exception to the rule and distributors have picked up the message. The game (or the rule) will be to offer lower prices than usual in order to still attract the customer. In the minds of our fellow citizens, the garden could be sacrificed for the benefit of food. If you have to choose at the end of the month, there is no doubt that you will favor primary needs rather than secondary needs. Logic !It’s up to us in store to be creative and to offer suitable solutions to maintain an acceptable average basket!The waltz of prices will therefore begin. An example, the mini-clods! Reserved in the past for horticultural professionals, this technique of pressed mini-clods can be found on the shelves. In recognized brands and in food stores geared towards the first price, this economical formula is offered. Between 0.20 ct and 0.50 ct per mini-clod, it’s worth the cost to buy a salad or a small flower. And the very amateur gardener will go for this very economical product. On the contrary, we will find 50% of this merchandise punctured, or with a “random” recovery. Clearly, great economy reserved for professionals but offered to beginner gardeners. Let’s hope that this “offer” does not disgust our garden consumers… The question could arise!

End of the world or end of the month?

Have you heard of this formula? In times of inflation, the question can arise by comparing ecology on the one hand with the protection of living things, and on the other the protection of humans by preserving the most deprived.Basically, ecology will wait, we already have to eat every day for cheap, and too bad for the carbon footprint, it will wait for better days!The lowest price, regardless of the origin of the products.It is difficult to make a choice between these two current problems.In the garden, and to justify the lowest possible price to continue to attract consumers, distributors will also work in this direction.A rosebush at 3.50 euros on the shelves is not a truly local product. It was grown in Bulgaria before arriving in our points of sale via Belgium. The rose bush has therefore traveled 3,000 kilometers. The French rose bush, produced and packaged in France, will be significantly more expensive.In the vast majority of cases, the amateur gardener will compare two roses and only weigh the price, the carbon footprint takes second place.And what about potting soils sold in 50 liters from 2 to 20 euros. The consumer does not pay attention to the quality and considers that there is a thief in the heap… Ouh lalalala! We still have contradictions to manage in our purchases and education to bring to our consumer!Unfortunately, in times of inflation, it only remembers the price!

Solution in the vegetable garden???

The situation forces us to rethink the origin of the products and sometimes forces us to “forget” our convictions a little.Fortunately, in these troubled times, the vegetable garden keeps its head straight and can become a solution for reconciling consumers and savings.Nevertheless, each French person consumed 173.6 kilos of fruit and vegetables in the year 2020 for an expenditure of 480 euros.A vegetable garden is capable of giving us one to two kilos per square meter. And just multiply by your area to calculate the savings.Ok, you have to spend a little time there, but this time is counted in the physical exercise of our body… The garden is also an antidepressant… So you will save money on subscription to a gym and at the pharmacist.The cost of seeds, potting soil, plants and a few necessary accessories is not much compared to the benefits provided by this good old vegetable garden.The vegetable garden is the department that makes it possible to reconcile the two: the end of the world and the end of the month.

Roland Motte… Gardener!