The pandemic hit the Colombian economy hard. According to figures from the Inter-American Development Bank, in 2020 more than 45% applications for business insolvency were admitted, including neighborhood stores. With the injection given with the economic reactivation, the transactional growth of these establishments (medium-sized stores, large stores and mini markets and neighborhood self-service stores) increased for the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year, especially for the months of February (+19.5%) and March (+23%). 

A factor that contributed to this performance at the end of March 2022, as confirmed by DANE, is the accumulated annual inflation that was positioned at 8.53 %, being the line of Food and non-alcoholic beverages the sector with the greatest contribution to variation, leveraged by lines such as Rice, Tubers and Fruits.

Although also as observed in the study carried out by Servinformacion, a multi-Latin company, leader in the development of high-impact technological solutions, focused on intelligent location and data analytics, the level of assistance (Transactions) in the store compared to 2020 , continues with a negative performance of -7%, due to the development of new consumer purchasing habits. -“An average consumer in Colombia now goes to the store less often but at the time of purchase invests a higher expense/disbursement”.

In the first quarter of 2022, the list of products consumed by Colombians is led by the Prepared/Preserved basket (+28.8%). This line of products is moved by the category of Snacks +39%, followed by the basket of Bread/Bakery Products with +26.9%. Milk, butter, cream, yogurt, cheese, eggs, substitutes with +16.7%.

Finally, the basket of Cereals, Grains, Legumes, presented the lowest growth +4%, being affected by its leading category, rice. Closing for the first quarter of the current year with a decrease in sales value of -9%. Compared to the basket with the main decrease, Tobacco, Cannabis Smoking Accessories recorded a drop of -14.5 1TP2Q.

The pandemic a hard blow to rice

Rice is one of the staple foods for an average household, but as a result of the economy of the last 2 years, its sale has been highly affected. Despite the economic recovery in the second half of 2021, the outlook for the category remains bleak. The rice line closed for 2021 with a decrease of -13% in sales. For 2022, the first quarter presented a drop of -9%, its decrease persists due to factors of inflation and import of production inputs

The purchase of the “Rice” category presented a loss of -2 percentage points. Servinformacion explains that "Rice for Q1-2022 closed with an incidence of 30.6%, that is, if a purchase act (ticket) registered a total value of $10,000, with a basket made up of products such as coffee, bread, rice and chocolate bars, Rice contributed $3,060 for that moment of purchase”.

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