Middle East conflict: how shoppers are adjusting their purchasing behavior

The impact of the conflict in the Middle East is already being felt in European supermarkets: costs are rising across the entire FMCG supply chain, and shoppers are cutting back selectively on their purchases.

Shoppers are optimizing their purchases

Rising oil and gas prices are causing structural price pressure that trickles down from the producer to the store shelf, and ultimately into the wallets of millions of European households. According to the new YouGov report “From headline to household: How conflict in the Middle East brings a new cost shock to seasonedshoppers,” 7 in 10 Europeans expect the conflict to have a major impact on their cost of living. But unlike the panic reactions during the Ukraine crisis in 2022, consumers are now responding more selectively.