With prices in the UK for kosher foods soaring around 25 percent in 2022 as inflation reaches a 40-year high, many Jewish families have been left struggling to afford mounting food costs.
The 25 percent increase in the cost of kosher goods is four times the inflation rate for non-kosher items, the Jewish Chronicle reported. The added costs are making life for Jewish families in the UK increasingly difficult.
Demand for help from local Jewish charities has also soared as food coasts have gone up, with Give It Forward Today (GIFT), which gives needy families packages of food, reported a 50 percent increase in families asking for aid over the last year, the report said.
On top of food insecurity, rising overall cost of living, including surging fuel prices and record level inflation, is cause for concern.
- The owner of a kosher business told the news outlet that prices “are going up weekly and it is a disaster.”
“Prices that we are giving now on products that are on special offer are more expensive than the items were six months ago without an offer,” he said.
- With inflation expected to continue to rise, the situation does not appear like it will improve any time soon.
“I had a phone call from an elderly customer this week who made his order online and came to pay and they had a problem. He didn’t have enough money to pay and his wife was ill in hospital,” he said. “I gave him 50 per cent off and said pay what you can for now, because I know he needs to keep kosher.”
Source: Arutz Sheva