# Mercadona Prices



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

What's going on with Mercadona's prices? I mentioned the other day that I'd noticed some things had gone down in price in the past few weeks, and this morning I found that their Cinco Semillas bread, which has been €1.45 a loaf for absolutely ages, is now €1.00.

Is there a price war going on between supermarkets, has the price of wheat gone down recently, or what?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

No Mercadona, Carrefour or similar here hwell:


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Yes there is a kind of price war between Mercadona and Lidl. Our local Mercydonakebab is selling 24 San Miguel cans for €8.49 for example. Merca have been suffering as Lidl have done their homework it seems. As well as all the unusual one offs they sell, their basic food stuffs are now far more locally sourced, very good quality and low prices. Lidl are opening new stores all over, including 20 new stores in UK. They must be doing something right...


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## misterblue58 (Jun 26, 2014)

No price war at all. dosent work like that here. Spain dosent have the same "supermarkets are king" philosophy that is driving prices down in the UK. the price changes you are seeing in fresh goods are due to seasonal produce wholesale price fluctuation that occur in the open markets all the time ie if theres a glut of a particular crop in the market/EU wholesale prices go down and sometimes those are passed on (temporarily)and products such as beer, cans and branded packaged foods are normally supported by the suppliers to the supermarkets (in the form of promotions) mercadona do this all the time ie a beer producer may reduce its mark up to a supermarket so it can either pass this on to the consumer as a "deal" maybe 3 for 2 or a price cut to encourage shoppers to come in and buy other goods. OR they simply keep prices stable and bank the price reduction to increase profits.

its all down to the marketeers but expect your prices to go up as well as down.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

misterblue58 said:


> No price war at all. dosent work like that here. Spain dosent have the same "supermarkets are king" philosophy that is driving prices down in the UK. the price changes you are seeing in fresh goods are due to seasonal produce wholesale price fluctuation that occur in the open markets all the time ie if theres a glut of a particular crop in the market/EU wholesale prices go down and sometimes those are passed on (temporarily)and products such as beer, cans and branded packaged foods are normally supported by the suppliers to the supermarkets (in the form of promotions) mercadona do this all the time ie a beer producer may reduce its mark up to a supermarket so it can either pass this on to the consumer as a "deal" maybe 3 for 2 or a price cut to encourage shoppers to come in and buy other goods. OR they simply keep prices stable and bank the price reduction to increase profits.
> 
> its all down to the marketeers but expect your prices to go up as well as down.


I'm used to seasonal variations here now, especially with fruit and vegetables, and to a lesser extent, fish. But is bread seasonal? The recent cuts in prices of stuff like bread, milk, tinned tomatoes (used to be €0.59 now have been €0.50 for a while) don't seem to be temporary offers or 3 for 2 deals, either, although I have seen plenty of time limited "ofertas" around the store. I can't think of a single thing, other than fruit and veg where the prices go up and down all the time, which I've seen go up in price since the start of this year.

I don't go to Lidl very often as it's out of town so not so convenient as the 2 branches of Mercadona I can walk to in less than 10 minutes. The discount supermarkets do seem to be doing very well everywhere, when I was in the UK recently I noticed large recruitment adverts for Aldi staff (and they pay above minimum wage) all over the place.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

No difference in the price of bread we buy at Mercadona, but noticed coffee seems to have reduced in price (both capsules and instant). We do not have any of the other 'larger' supermarkets within a 30 minutes radius of where we live, so probably do not get any of the 'offers' that are available in larger cities.

However, we buy generally the same things each week, and I have not noticed a significant increase in our weekly shopping bill from when we came here 8 years ago.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I have inside information as one of the mothers at the school our boy attends is married to a senior Mercadona manager and he says that the price reductions around here are to compete against Lidl; so whether or not you believe in price wars, this manager seems to think they are real...


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

thrax said:


> Yes there is a kind of price war between Mercadona and Lidl. Our local Mercydonakebab is selling 24 San Miguel cans for €8.49 for example. Merca have been suffering as Lidl have done their homework it seems. As well as all the unusual one offs they sell, their basic food stuffs are now far more locally sourced, very good quality and low prices. Lidl are opening new stores all over, including 20 new stores in UK. They must be doing something right...


We don't have a Lidl in the area - shame, I like San Miguel.

But the Merca own brand is perfectly drinkable and nicer than Cruzcampo. It went down from €3 to €2.75 for a dozen cans a couple of years ago, and never went back up.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

There was an item on the news last night showing a street protest about Mercadona selling whole chickens for less than they cost to produce. It was organised by UNIO, a union representing small agricultural businesses who are suffering from the policy. Reminds me of the milk producers in the UK when Tesco did the same. What is our cheap food really costing?


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## liverpool_expat (Jul 11, 2014)

Price wars are good for consumers!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

liverpool_expat said:


> Price wars are good for consumers!


Not really, in the long run. The quality goes down too - and you end up with junk.


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## olivefarmer (Oct 16, 2012)

Price wars are good for consumers?

maybe. However long term I do not believe they are. Milk production in Britain for example. The farmers are paid nearly enough to cover their costs. This leads to less and less small farms and more large ones run industrially in partnership with the supermarkets. The animals don't lead a healthy or fulfilling life as they exist in sheds being monitored and fed antibiotics, measured amounts of concentrate foods (made from dubious products). All because the housewife is perceived as wanting low prices at all costs. The sight of cows in fields may become a thing of the past with Britain buying its milk from France.

We have stopped buying the tasteless cheap chicken that Mercadona now stock. Cheap it maybe but it isn't ethical. Our competing local super (run by a local ) stocks locally produced veg and meat of far better quality. 

Olive oil is the same here in Spain as milk in Britain. every year the price per Kg of olives is driven down whilst the cost of fuel, fertiliser etc rises. Who is that good for? North African farmers who do not grow under the strict producer quality regime of Spain but are allowed to sell to the EU at a fraction of EU production costs.


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## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

Like the tuna in Mercadona for 1 euro  We shop at both, well actually three shops when we pick up a few things at Iceland.

Lidl car park is always packed though so for sure they have some serious competition, if you think they are not noticing you are daft.


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

Our local Lidl seems to do very well, their car park is always buzzing with expats.

I buy my occasional tipple of Champagne there........13€ a bottle


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Alcalaina said:


> Not really, in the long run. The quality goes down too - and you end up with junk.


Speaking of 'quality food' do any of the Spanish Supermarkets sell Organic Food
or have a special section on their counters for Organic Food.

As I've been keeping an eye open for the words Los alimentos orgánicos
in Supermarkets but have failed to come across them so far.

Obviously as many folks from the UK know - you pay a premium for
Organic food.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

The Carrefour supermarkets in our area sell some organic food. In the fruit section they have a counter with a limited amount of organic fruit and vegetables, and then in another area there's a section of organic boxed and tinned foods. They call it 'ecológico' by the way, not 'orgánico'.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kalohi said:


> The Carrefour supermarkets in our area sell some organic food. In the fruit section they have a counter with a limited amount of organic fruit and vegetables, and then in another area there's a section of organic boxed and tinned foods. They call it 'ecológico' by the way, not 'orgánico'.


Yes so do Mercadona and MasyMas have ecológico fruit and veg - more than likely all supermarkets do. 
Look out in the mercados and mercadillos as well


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

WRT competition driving down prices, there is always the option to pay more for what you perceive to be a better quality product if you choose.


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## olivefarmer (Oct 16, 2012)

Wrt?

Wtt?


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## Brangus (May 1, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> Yes so do Mercadona and MasyMas have ecológico fruit and veg - more than likely all supermarkets do.
> Look out in the mercados and mercadillos as well


I'm about 2 hours inland from you, but a world away -- where Mercadona is common but they don't sell anything organic. Nor does the big weekly market. When I moved here 4 years ago, if you wanted "ecológico" you had to join a small cooperative by paying a 30 euro annual membership fee. Carrefour didn't carry a single organic item either, but they do now. Our local Alcampo and Eroski have started to carry very few things now, too.

I discovered the cooperative by asking at an _herbolario _(some of which sell not only herbs but organic flours, beverages, etc.).


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Brangus said:


> I'm about 2 hours inland from you, but a world away -- where Mercadona is common but they don't sell anything organic. Nor does the big weekly market. When I moved here 4 years ago, if you wanted "ecológico" you had to join a small cooperative by paying a 30 euro annual membership fee. Carrefour didn't carry a single organic item either, but they do now. Our local Alcampo and Eroski have started to carry very few things now, too.
> 
> I discovered the cooperative by asking at an _herbolario _(some of which sell not only herbs but organic flours, beverages, etc.).


The Mercadonas and weekly markets around here don't have anything organic either.


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