Just a quick run to the supermarket for eggs – and you walk out with full bags and a much lighter wallet. Life is not getting any cheaper and this is particularly evident in the price of food in Germany. Even if we can see positive economic developments with the increase in the minimum wage since January 1, 2026, expensive groceries are not making everyday life any easier. The deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Esra Limbacher, told the Rheinische Post that prices in supermarkets have risen by 35% since 2020, and the SPD now wants to intervene and introduce an action plan called the “Germany Basket”. This is to be developed along the lines of the Greek model, where the government decided a few years ago to reduce the prices of more than 2,000 products and subsequently introduced the so-called household basket.
Parallel to the Greek model, the SPD is proposing a new package of measures to ensure affordable basic services for all. The so-called “Germany basket” should include affordable and stable-priced basic foodstuffs from all important product groups that are produced in Germany. This is necessary because “rising food prices are not an abstract problem for people on low or medium incomes, but a daily burden“, said parliamentary group vice-chair Esra Limbacher to the Düsseldorfer Rheinische Post.
Retail chains should participate voluntarily and offer the basket in their stores. In addition, the SPD wants to protect consumers from hidden price increases by consistently enforcing labeling obligations and examining regulation based on the EU directive on unfair commercial practices. Following the example of other EU countries, there are also plans to set up a state price monitoring agency to make the path of products from the field to the supermarket shelf more transparent.
The aim is to provide quick and noticeable relief for consumers. “Too many people have to ask themselves at the end of the month whether they still have enough money for fresh fruit and vegetables, butter or the occasional meat or fish,” continued the deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. This should change in future.