The graph below demonstrates changes in the cost across three grocery categories – fresh fruits and vegetables, sugar and sweets, and carbonated drinks – over a 30-year span, from 1979 to 2009, using the level of consumer-price index (CPI) as a benchmark.
Overall, pure prices rose in all three categories, but fresh fruits and vegetables experienced the most significant growth, surpassing the CPI by 1987. In contrast, despite some increase, the cost of sugar and sweets and carbonated drinks remained lower than the CPI level at the end of the period.
In detail, price of fruits and vegetables were at the CPI level in 1979, following the same trend until (or to?) 1983. After dropping gently to approximately 80 points, the category marked a rise in the next 2 years. By 1987, fruits and vegetables price started to surge, escalating at nearly 340 points by 2007, with minor fluctuations. However, fruits and vegetables declined slightly in 2009 by around 20 points of the CPI.In contrast, the prices of sugar and sweets and carbonated drinks matched the CPI level only at the beginning. Both categories exhibited a gradual fall starting in 1987; however, carbonated drinks experienced a sharper decline after 1989. Although, by 2009, both categories faced a slight raise: sugar and sweets peaked at approximately 20 points, while carbonated drinks grew by about 15 points.