Food prices rise at fastest rate for 11 years


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The price of groceries is increasing at its fastest rate in 11 years, adding an extra £271 to the amount average households will pay at the till this year.

Data from Kantar showed that grocery price inflation hit 5.9% in April, as the number of items on promotion decreased. It is the fastest rise since December 2011.

Everyday essentials

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar said:

The average household will now be exposed to a potential price increase of £271 per year.

A lot of this is going on non-discretionary, everyday essentials, which will prove difficult to cut back on as budgets are squeezed.

McKevitt continued:

We’re seeing a clear flight to value as shoppers watch their pennies. The level of products bought on promotion, currently at 27.3%, has decreased 2.7 percentage points as everyday low price strategies come to the fore.

Read on...

Imperfect tracking

Campaigner Jack Monroe recently criticised supermarkets for taking their cheapest everyday items off shelves.

They argued that inflation – which tracks the cost of the same items over time – is an imperfect way of measuring how much prices are increasing because the cheapest products are no longer available.

Monroe also warned against governmental reliance on food banks:

McKevitt said supermarkets have been listening, with Asda, Morrisons and Tesco all taking steps to offer cheaper food to customers.

Kantar found that supermarket sales dropped 5.9% over the 12 weeks to April 17.

Sales are also, for the first time since the pandemic started, 0.6% below where they were two years ago. This period now takes into account the early days of the first lockdown.

Aldi is the fastest growing retailer, with its sales increasing 4.2%, while Lidl saw a 4% rise.

McKevitt said:

Over one million extra shoppers visited Aldi and Lidl respectively over the past 12 weeks compared with this time last year.

Both retailers achieved record-breaking market shares, with Aldi now holding 8.8% while Lidl stands at 6.6%. Collectively, the two discounters account for 15.4% of the market – up from just 5.5% a decade ago.

Tesco was the only other retailer whose market share grew over the period – by 0.3 percentage points to 27.3%.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation urged quick action from the government:

The Trussell Trust asked for people affected by the cost of living crisis to get in touch:

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  • Show Comments

    1. Highest inflation in 11 years, supermarkets have removed many of their value lines.

      Tesco’s takes it a step further and uses hard sell tactic requiring people to take out a Clubcard to receive it’s ‘loyalty’ prices. That is not loyalty: it is opportunism and demonstrates the notion of ‘loyalty’ is not a two way street.

      Tesco’s hard sell tactic should be unlawful yet they get away with it with impunity.

      Even more disturbing is these are the supermarkets that sought covid payments when they didn’t need them in the first place.

      In the US many food banks are now struggling to distribute food leaving the poor even more destitute. The government’s reliance on food banks is a seriously dangerous game that underscores the urgent need for a real living wage and a Universal Basic Income.

      We have seen what government can do during covid to ensure people are not left destitute. There is no need for the Tory food banks which fly in the face of there claims of austerity being a thing of the past. It never was.

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