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For reference, that's a fairly average value for Europe at the moment. Not sure why the UK is being singled out. https://i.redd.it/8hbhiqhowjpa1.png https://i.

For reference, that's a fairly average value for Europe at the moment. Not sure why the UK is being singled out. https://i.redd.it/8hbhiqhowjpa1.png https://i.redd.it/8hbhiqhowjpa1.png

manojlds 4y ago
Part of the reason is UK ran out of tomatoes, peppers etc. EU didn't have the same issues. Source: live in UK
- fennecfoxy 4y ago
  But the core reason for those shortages were poor weather in Spain etc where the produce is grown, I'd be surprised if the EU didn't have the same issues. I wouldn't be surprised if those countries such as Spain reduced the amount available for export so that they can meet demand for local markets though, but capitalism would dictate that they sell to the highest bidder instead.
imwithstoopid 4y ago
[flagged]
dougmwne 4y ago
Media narrative obviously. This looks like a story about the war’s effects on energy and resources. Better to redirect people’s anger so they they don’t lose their appetite for the proxy war.
Aachen 4y ago
I'm curious why the values aren't identical to within rounding errors for countries like the Netherlands and Belgium which are nearly the same size, in essentially the same location, and don't have different amounts of welfare like north/south Korea or USA/MX. Can't be that one has tech or purchasing power that the other doesn't, or that food needs to travel a lot further, and I would also not expect vastly different foreign relations (also because EU, but also because the countries are so similar in beliefs and histories). And similar for slightly different but still nearby and similar countries like Germany, Luxemburg, and the UK. Anyone know what causes these differences? Edit: to answer your question, I wouldn't look for meaning behind that but rather assume that a limited scope article is a lot easier to write than a broadly scoped one. In the ~global context of HN, the headline then sounds like they're singled out.
- Earw0rm 4y ago
  A shortage of low-cost labour on which the UK has long been (perhaps too) reliant, and reduced inefficiency (= higher cost of) the import process. Or, in a word, Brexit. Everywhere is getting inflation. Supply chain disruption, Ukraine war and a dash of climate change (hasn't really bitten yet compared to the other two). Britain seems to be getting about 5% more than everywhere else.
detaro 4y ago
... because it's a UK industry publication, writing about and for the UK?
- _Wintermute 4y ago
  I understand the publisher writing about it. I meant being singled out on HN, many US readers here seem to think this a uniquely UK issue.
  - idleproc 4y ago
    Isn't the reason because the lingua franca of HN is English? If people were posting articles in other languages, there'd be a more representative set of criticism.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kaanski 4y ago
In general there seems to be a weird zeitgeist of negative exceptionalism in the UK at the moment. Not sure why but generally journos seem to write about issues like they are only hitting the UK when a simple google search shows they aren’t. It does come across like a weird concerted effort to paint the UK as collapsing since leaving the EU. The majority of journos seem to be able to write only negatively about UK current affairs unless you read something like The Express who are delusional in their own right. Most recent ones I can think of are the failed space launch and British volt going under. These were both highly ambitious projects that had a high chance of failure, especially the space launch. It’s unlikely you’re going to get your first launch right, famously it takes many attempts. When both of these happened journalists seemed to revel in the failure. It was very odd to see. I understand with these two examples a lot of it has to do with government/brexiteer chest thumping which shon a spotlight on them. However it was still odd to see. I think this then trickles down to places like HN (who’s membership generally has a bias towards remain) who also see an opportunity to revel in it. This is odd as well because I can see why Britons or Europeans would be passionate about membership in a regional trade bloc, Americans who get really passionate about it confuse me. As a Briton I didn’t really care when America left NAFTA. This is assuming the majority of people on HN are American but based on time zones and when articles are posted I’m probably wrong. Edit: This is a UK based publication writing about Groceries in the UK which is why it’s so specific. Your comment just spurred something I’ve been thinking recently.
- Veen 4y ago
  > In general there seems to be a weird zeitgeist of negative exceptionalism in the UK at the moment. Especially on Hacker News. I tend to avoid UK-based posts on here because the content is fairly predictable: the UK is going to shit and Brexit is to blame, repeated ad nauseam in the absence of any evidence that it's true. If I wanted thoughtless UK doom mongering, I'd read the Guardian or the NYT.
  - kaanski 4y ago
    Yeah I do the same. It seems to permeate into everything, even positives. UK announcing research into x: comments will probably be negative and about how it’s a boondoggle. UK company doing exciting stuff like fusion or quantum: comments will probably be negative and about how it’s a boondoggle. It’s tiring. Edit: That being said it does lead to hilarious moments where I’ll read the Guardian and see a headline like “The NHS won’t make it to Christmas (for real this time) but it doesn’t matter because we’ll all be dead by then because of Brexit” and then I’ll see the Express in my corner shop with a headline like “Brexit HERO Boris makes Ursula von der Leyen CRY when he announced new BRITISH MOON BASE”
satysin 4y ago
Indeed it is not much different here in [redacted]. To answer your question: "Not sure why the UK is being singled out." The answer to me is simply that it is a UK website www.grocerygazette.co.uk There are plenty of similar stories about the same kind of inflation here in [redacted] such as [redacted]. With Hacker News being predominately English speaking I suspect plays into why we see more US and UK (and other English speaking countries) related posts vs non-English speaking. And of course people do love to point out where the UK is suffering these days to put a Brexit spin on it (whether fair or not) as it gets them clicks. Much like a famous or young person dying is almost always reported as "died suddenly" these days regardless of nature of death as it gets clicks with all the anti-vax crowd.
unity1001 4y ago
Its not average for Europe. Aside from Germany, rest of Europe is at around ~10%. The UK is being singled out because its not able to import the groceries it used to do before Brexit now - there has been a low yield crop season in most parts of Europe and the domestic demand for groceries has literally exhausted the supply that can be exported. Since the UK is out of the Eu, its not possible to access the Eu domestic supply anymore and it has to wait for what remains for export. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/british-supermarkets-are-rationing-fruit-and-vegetables-amid-shortages.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/british-supermarkets-are-rat... There isnt such a situation like rationing vegetables anywhere else in Europe.
- ghusto 4y ago
  What's around ~10%? What does that mean? All I know is that here in the Netherlands, the prices they're mentioning are normal.
  - unity1001 4y ago
    It means this: https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate
- dukeyukey 4y ago
  > Aside from Germany, rest of Europe is at around ~10%. That isn't true at all, the UK is about the same as the Euro area taken as a whole. > Since the UK is out of the Eu, its not possible to access the Eu domestic supply anymore and it has to wait for what remains for export The UK is absolutely capable of tapping EU supply, we've got an extensive free trade deal. I'm eating Spanish cherry tomatoes as I type! Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/food-inflation?continent=europe https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/food-inflation?con...
  - unity1001 4y ago
    "European Union Inflation Rate is at 9.90%, compared to 10.00% last month and 6.20% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 2.12%." https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate > The UK is absolutely capable of tapping EU supply, I don't understand what are you trying to falsify. CNBC or their news about the UK not being able to import as it used to from the Eu. "...James Walton, chief economist at the Institute of Grocery Distribution, told CNBC: “The U.K. is highly reliant on imports of fresh produce at all times of year, especially in winter — the EU accounts for much of this import volume. If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it would make sense that EU producers would serve their local demand first. This leaves less available for export to the U.K...”" Having a 'free' trade deal does not mean that you will get priority over the domestic buyer as an outsider. > I'm eating Spanish cherry tomatoes as I type Your personal experience does not constitute a statistic.
ghusto 4y ago
Was thinking the same. At least here in the Netherlands, and Germany which I sometimes visit, prices have been around what the UK is only now seeing.
Tiktaalik 4y ago
Because the UK is part of the Anglosphere and so USians/Canadians/Aussies/Kiwi press will always look to the UK for a high level look at Europe

For reference, that's a fairly average value for Europe at the moment. Not sure why the UK is being singled out. https://i.redd.it/8hbhiqhowjpa1.png https://i.redd.it/8hbhiqhowjpa1.png

manojlds 4y ago

Part of the reason is UK ran out of tomatoes, peppers etc. EU didn't have the same issues. Source: live in UK

fennecfoxy 4y ago
But the core reason for those shortages were poor weather in Spain etc where the produce is grown, I'd be surprised if the EU didn't have the same issues. I wouldn't be surprised if those countries such as Spain reduced the amount available for export so that they can meet demand for local markets though, but capitalism would dictate that they sell to the highest bidder instead.

imwithstoopid 4y ago

[flagged]

dougmwne 4y ago

Media narrative obviously. This looks like a story about the war’s effects on energy and resources. Better to redirect people’s anger so they they don’t lose their appetite for the proxy war.

Aachen 4y ago

I'm curious why the values aren't identical to within rounding errors for countries like the Netherlands and Belgium which are nearly the same size, in essentially the same location, and don't have different amounts of welfare like north/south Korea or USA/MX. Can't be that one has tech or purchasing power that the other doesn't, or that food needs to travel a lot further, and I would also not expect vastly different foreign relations (also because EU, but also because the countries are so similar in beliefs and histories). And similar for slightly different but still nearby and similar countries like Germany, Luxemburg, and the UK. Anyone know what causes these differences? Edit: to answer your question, I wouldn't look for meaning behind that but rather assume that a limited scope article is a lot easier to write than a broadly scoped one. In the ~global context of HN, the headline then sounds like they're singled out.

Earw0rm 4y ago
A shortage of low-cost labour on which the UK has long been (perhaps too) reliant, and reduced inefficiency (= higher cost of) the import process. Or, in a word, Brexit. Everywhere is getting inflation. Supply chain disruption, Ukraine war and a dash of climate change (hasn't really bitten yet compared to the other two). Britain seems to be getting about 5% more than everywhere else.

detaro 4y ago

... because it's a UK industry publication, writing about and for the UK?

_Wintermute 4y ago
I understand the publisher writing about it. I meant being singled out on HN, many US readers here seem to think this a uniquely UK issue.
- idleproc 4y ago
  Isn't the reason because the lingua franca of HN is English? If people were posting articles in other languages, there'd be a more representative set of criticism.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

kaanski 4y ago

In general there seems to be a weird zeitgeist of negative exceptionalism in the UK at the moment. Not sure why but generally journos seem to write about issues like they are only hitting the UK when a simple google search shows they aren’t. It does come across like a weird concerted effort to paint the UK as collapsing since leaving the EU. The majority of journos seem to be able to write only negatively about UK current affairs unless you read something like The Express who are delusional in their own right. Most recent ones I can think of are the failed space launch and British volt going under. These were both highly ambitious projects that had a high chance of failure, especially the space launch. It’s unlikely you’re going to get your first launch right, famously it takes many attempts. When both of these happened journalists seemed to revel in the failure. It was very odd to see. I understand with these two examples a lot of it has to do with government/brexiteer chest thumping which shon a spotlight on them. However it was still odd to see. I think this then trickles down to places like HN (who’s membership generally has a bias towards remain) who also see an opportunity to revel in it. This is odd as well because I can see why Britons or Europeans would be passionate about membership in a regional trade bloc, Americans who get really passionate about it confuse me. As a Briton I didn’t really care when America left NAFTA. This is assuming the majority of people on HN are American but based on time zones and when articles are posted I’m probably wrong. Edit: This is a UK based publication writing about Groceries in the UK which is why it’s so specific. Your comment just spurred something I’ve been thinking recently.

Veen 4y ago
> In general there seems to be a weird zeitgeist of negative exceptionalism in the UK at the moment. Especially on Hacker News. I tend to avoid UK-based posts on here because the content is fairly predictable: the UK is going to shit and Brexit is to blame, repeated ad nauseam in the absence of any evidence that it's true. If I wanted thoughtless UK doom mongering, I'd read the Guardian or the NYT.
- kaanski 4y ago
  Yeah I do the same. It seems to permeate into everything, even positives. UK announcing research into x: comments will probably be negative and about how it’s a boondoggle. UK company doing exciting stuff like fusion or quantum: comments will probably be negative and about how it’s a boondoggle. It’s tiring. Edit: That being said it does lead to hilarious moments where I’ll read the Guardian and see a headline like “The NHS won’t make it to Christmas (for real this time) but it doesn’t matter because we’ll all be dead by then because of Brexit” and then I’ll see the Express in my corner shop with a headline like “Brexit HERO Boris makes Ursula von der Leyen CRY when he announced new BRITISH MOON BASE”

satysin 4y ago

Indeed it is not much different here in [redacted]. To answer your question: "Not sure why the UK is being singled out." The answer to me is simply that it is a UK website www.grocerygazette.co.uk There are plenty of similar stories about the same kind of inflation here in [redacted] such as [redacted]. With Hacker News being predominately English speaking I suspect plays into why we see more US and UK (and other English speaking countries) related posts vs non-English speaking. And of course people do love to point out where the UK is suffering these days to put a Brexit spin on it (whether fair or not) as it gets them clicks. Much like a famous or young person dying is almost always reported as "died suddenly" these days regardless of nature of death as it gets clicks with all the anti-vax crowd.

unity1001 4y ago

Its not average for Europe. Aside from Germany, rest of Europe is at around ~10%. The UK is being singled out because its not able to import the groceries it used to do before Brexit now - there has been a low yield crop season in most parts of Europe and the domestic demand for groceries has literally exhausted the supply that can be exported. Since the UK is out of the Eu, its not possible to access the Eu domestic supply anymore and it has to wait for what remains for export. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/british-supermarkets-are-rationing-fruit-and-vegetables-amid-shortages.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/british-supermarkets-are-rat... There isnt such a situation like rationing vegetables anywhere else in Europe.

ghusto 4y ago
What's around ~10%? What does that mean? All I know is that here in the Netherlands, the prices they're mentioning are normal.
- unity1001 4y ago
  It means this: https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate
dukeyukey 4y ago
> Aside from Germany, rest of Europe is at around ~10%. That isn't true at all, the UK is about the same as the Euro area taken as a whole. > Since the UK is out of the Eu, its not possible to access the Eu domestic supply anymore and it has to wait for what remains for export The UK is absolutely capable of tapping EU supply, we've got an extensive free trade deal. I'm eating Spanish cherry tomatoes as I type! Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/food-inflation?continent=europe https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/food-inflation?con...
- unity1001 4y ago
  "European Union Inflation Rate is at 9.90%, compared to 10.00% last month and 6.20% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 2.12%." https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate https://ycharts.com/indicators/europe_inflation_rate > The UK is absolutely capable of tapping EU supply, I don't understand what are you trying to falsify. CNBC or their news about the UK not being able to import as it used to from the Eu. "...James Walton, chief economist at the Institute of Grocery Distribution, told CNBC: “The U.K. is highly reliant on imports of fresh produce at all times of year, especially in winter — the EU accounts for much of this import volume. If there are shortfalls in production in the EU, then it would make sense that EU producers would serve their local demand first. This leaves less available for export to the U.K...”" Having a 'free' trade deal does not mean that you will get priority over the domestic buyer as an outsider. > I'm eating Spanish cherry tomatoes as I type Your personal experience does not constitute a statistic.

ghusto 4y ago

Was thinking the same. At least here in the Netherlands, and Germany which I sometimes visit, prices have been around what the UK is only now seeing.

Tiktaalik 4y ago

Because the UK is part of the Anglosphere and so USians/Canadians/Aussies/Kiwi press will always look to the UK for a high level look at Europe