In 2022, total spending on food rose 2.7% compared to 2021, while the volume purchased fell 7.1%, which placed per capita consumption at 698.50 kilos/liters per person per year.
This is reflected in the Report on Food Consumption in Spain 2022, presented this Thursday by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, at a press conference in which he highlighted speed and convenience as “rising values” in kitchens Spanish, while consumption outside the home “recovers”.
Specifically, according to his calculations, total spending on food and beverages in Spain stood at 107,780 million euros last year, 2.7% above that of 2021 and 1.1% above that of 2019 -the year of pre-pandemic reference-, due “in part” to the increase in prices, but also to the recovery of consumption outside the home.
For its part, the total volume consumed decreased by 7.1% compared to what was purchased the previous year and was 8.1% lower than that of 2019, standing at 30,946 million kilos/liters, “to a large extent, due to this transfer of consumption from inside to outside the home”, according to the Executive, who indicated that the “majority” of the intake of food and beverages occurs at home, which represents 87.2% in volume and that more two thirds of the cost (68.6%) is made to fill the fridge and pantry at home.
In 2022, per capita consumption (698.5 kilos/liters per person and year) remained below that registered in the three previous years, while per capita spending on the purchase of food and beverages (2,582 euros per person and year) grew compared to 2021 and 2020, but still remained below 2019 levels.
In the home, fresh food has a “great weight”, representing 37.3% of the shopping basket in volume and 40.7% in value and, according to the Government, the Spanish consumer is now “more aware” of the value of having food in your fridge and “of the work behind it”, so that “your purchase is more responsible and selective and wastes less”.
Spending in Spanish households on food and beverages stood at 73,893 million euros in 2022, with a slight decrease of 0.9% compared to the previous year, motivated by the increase in prices, since 8.7 was paid % more for each kilo or liter of food or drinks than in 2021 and the average cost per person was about 1,597 euros.
The products with the highest volume in the shopping basket were milk and dairy products and fresh fruit and vegetables, which represent 37%, although meat and fish head the food budget, with 31% of the value, despite to which in volume they are around 10%.
On average, each person consumes approximately 583 kilos or liters at home, which means that around 55 kilos or liters less were consumed last year than in 2021.
Spanish consumers “preferably” chose the supermarket and self-service to make their purchases, a format that increases their market volume share by two points, up to 49.5%, “well above” the hypermarket, which, according to calculations of the Executive, reached 12.8%.
Likewise, the discount store (13.7%) and the traditional one (12.7%) fell, while the sale ‘online’ (2.3%) fell one tenth, although it is still above the 1.6% that scored in 2019.
In parallel, the report highlights that the expenditure made by Spaniards outside the home amounted to 33,887 million euros, 11.5% more than in 2021 and they dedicated the budget more to consuming drinks (58.4%) than food (41 .6%).
Thus, the average expenditure per capita amounted to 984.51 euros, 11.3% more than the previous year, this is about 100 euros more per person and year than in 2021, and consumption in bars, cafeterias and breweries “is intensified”, while purchases in hotels and business services increased.
On average, each individual consumed 115 kilos or liters of food products outside the home, the equivalent of 6.4 kilos or liters more than last year.
In terms of habits and trends, 93.4% of Spaniards continue to have breakfast at home an average of six times a week and 95.3% have lunch or dinner at home an average of 10.4 times a week.
As a novelty, compared to previous studies, there is a decrease in the intake of meat protein, widely consumed during the pandemic and the restrictions phase, and a reduction in the number of consumers who could be considered “fully omnivorous” to the “benefit” of flexitarians. , vegetarians and vegans.
According to the advance data for 2023, between January and April the accumulated kilos and liters that have been consumed fell by 2.65%, although, according to projections, this decrease “will slow down with the gradual moderation of prices, which in the last weeks of the semester they have even been reduced in some categories”.
With regard to food waste, last year Spaniards threw away 1,201 million kilos/liters of unconsumed beverage food, 6.2% less than in the previous year, according to the Report on Food Waste in Spain. 2022.
Specifically, each Spaniard threw an average of 25.31 kilos/liters of food into the trash last year and the number of households that do not waste food rose to 30% (26% in 2021) and more than half of them away from home consumers throw nothing away.
The rise in prices after the start of the war in Ukraine also caused a decrease in the volume purchased for the home of 8.8% in relation to 2021, although throughout 2022 the consumption of food outside the home grew by 11.5%.
One of the consequences of this change in habits is the increase in the waste of leftovers from recipes and cooked products, which in 2020 accounted for 23.8% of the food thrown away at home, and in 2022 they came to represent 21 ,4%. On the contrary, the waste of purchased food fell nine points, going from 81.1% to 78.6%.
The greatest reduction in waste was registered in fruits, vegetables and liquid milk. On the contrary, those foods in which a “worst management” of the appro
