nsumers will have to dig deeper in their pockets at the tills this festive season, with food prices set to rise on the back of rising petrol prices, feed, and input costs.

This week, the price of petrol increased to a record R19.54 by R1.21 a litre, an increase that will exacerbate the already high cost of food, analysts say.

The recent fuel price does not bode well for the inflation profile in the short- to medium-forecast horizon, particularly food inflation. This is also exacerbated by the fact that there are other cost-push pressures, like fertiliser costs and electricity costs," Kulani Siweya, Agri SA's chief economist.

He said the uptick in retail prices might come as a result of retailers charging more to account for the higher transportation and distribution costs that come with continued fuel hikes and other factors.

Paul Makube, a senior agriculture economist at FNB, said the higher fuel price will affect all agricultural produce but will mostly impact fresh produce and meat products given their sensitivity and frequency of distribution.

He said that prices for chicken, which have also remained high due to strong global prices, may remain elevated. Currently, meat prices are already being pushed up by high production