Lorraine Williamson
Breakfast in Spain is becoming more and more expensive: a coffee and toast cost 5% more last year than the year before. A bad thing, according to a professor at Business School EAE in Barcelona.
Many Spaniards eat breakfast outside the home. With a cup of coffee, a ‘tostada’, with or without ham and cheese and tomato, or a sweet sandwich. “Breakfast is one of the most important meals, a cup of coffee or some toast to start the day gives you energy to face the challenges ahead. However, unfortunately, breakfast in Spain is getting expensive,’ says Professor Javier Rivas. Rivas works at the EAE Business School in Barcelona. He researched the price increases of breakfast products.
Breakfast food prices continue to rise, although the rate of increase in food inflation has moderated compared to peaks in 2023 and early 2024, according to EAE calculations. In Spain, the increases for products such as coffee, sugar and olive oil reflect a “worrying trend”, Rivas warned.
Breakfast price increase significantly higher than CPI price increase
The price of a traditional breakfast consisting of coffee with milk and toast with oil has risen by an average of almost 5% over the past year. That is well above the increase of the Consumer Price Index CPI which is 1.5% on an annual basis.
Also read: Typical Spanish breakfasts
These breakfast foods have become a lot more expensive
Coffee is one of the favourite beverages in Spanish households. The price of coffee has risen by 4.3% in the past year. While sugar and milk prices have remained stable, the rise in coffee is having a major impact on the overall cost of breakfast.
However, those who don’t drink coffee and prefer hot chocolate don’t come out any better. The price of cocoa powder has risen by more than 20%, while cocoa powder has become more than 12% more expensive.
Bakery and confectionery products, which are often eaten at breakfast, also increased by 4.3%. Prices of other foods, such as bread and cereals, have risen slightly more moderately, by about 2%.
Olive oil, an ideal complement to toast, has also risen, with annual increases of more than 10%, according to Rivas, who adds that toast with oil is “a real luxury” for many families.
Also read: After olive oil, will coffee also become unaffordable in Spain?