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The true cost of food inflation

Food prices double with massive food inflation

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‘Greedflation’ warning as supermarket essentials DOUBLE in price in a year

The price of thousands of shopping baskets has skyrocketed, with some products doubling in just a year, it turns out.

The figures come from an analysis of more than 25,000 products and make it clear that the budget items that many have turned to during the cost of living crisis, have risen the most. Food inflation is at a record high and its impacting those on low incomes the most.

 

Which Research

New research from which? shows that the annual inflation rate for popular groceries and beverages was 16.5 percent in eight major supermarkets in February.

On average, prices in the budget range are up 22.9 percent, with private labels up 19.7 percent, premium supermarket lines up 13.8 percent and large brands up 13.3 percent.

Also read: UK inflation: Which goods and services have risen the most in price?

 

Food inflation up to almost 17%
The increases add hundreds of pounds to annual food bills and far outpace increases in wages, pensions and benefits.BUT this doesn’t show us the true picture. The headline figure shows an overall average. What about the staples? What about the budget brands?

Earlier this month, Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann warned that ‘greedflation’ could take its toll on ordinary people if companies use the cost of living to justify large price hikes.

Research shows that household items and essential items are the hardest hit by rising prices

Sue Davies, Head of Food Policy at which?, said: “Disturbingly, our tracker shows that the price of some essentials has more than doubled in the last year – with cheaper private label items being hit particularly hard.

 

The price of chocolate

The Sun reported that the price of confectionery has risen from 99p to £1.50 in some supermarkets – almost 50%.

That’s five times the current UK inflation rate.

A 360g tray of Ocado’s Cadbury’s milk is £7.81 today – an 86% increase on last year’s price.

 

What are the government doing?

Jeremy Hunt will focus his work on halving inflation by the end of the year, with the price of closet clips doubling in some cases.

According to the European Central Bank, many companies have higher profit margins despite rising costs.

Such a steep rise will only hurt consumers – and strain the pockets of producers.

“Supermarkets need to step up their game and ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable groceries at a store close to them, especially in areas where people need help most.

“Retailers also need to offer transparent pricing so people can easily find out which products offer the best value for money.”

 

Figures from the supermarkets

The new figures show that the discounters Lidl and Aldi are still the cheapest shopping options, but show the largest price increases on average over the year.

The tracker shows prices are up 24.4 per cent at Lidl, compared to 22.7 per cent at Aldi, 17 per cent at Asda, 16.7 per cent at Morrisons, 14.2 per cent at Waitrose, 14.1 per cent at Sainsbury’s, 14 percent at Tesco and 10.3 percent at Okado.

The annual rate of increase has fallen for some categories, such as butter and spreads, but has risen for other staples.

For example, inflation rose from 11.6 percent to 13 percent for vegetables, from 13.4 percent to 15.1 percent for juice drinks and smoothies, and from 13.4 percent to 14.6 percent for cereals.

Products that have doubled in price in a year include Asda’s Free From Special Flakes, Morrison’s Free From Corn Flakes, Tesco Creamfields’ French Brie, Lidl’s Camembert Chene D’argent and Waitrose’s Essential Italian Mozzarella.

Many own-brand products showed the biggest increases, for example Aldi’s Nature’s pick Honeydew Melon rose 79 per cent to £1.70.

 

Lidl has the What? Results.

It said: “We are very concerned that since the launch of this ‘tracker’, which? has consistently chosen to publish information that we and other retailers have confirmed to be incorrect.’

Overall consumer prices in the UK rose 8.8% in the 12 months to January 2023, adding hundreds of pounds to monthly fuel and food bills in some cases

Aldi insisted the supermarket would “always” offer the lowest grocery prices.

Asda, Morrison’s, Waitrose, Ocado and Sainsbury’s all cited inflationary pressures but insisted they were working hard to keep prices ‘competitive’ for customers.

As reported in The Times, Morrisons said it recently reduced the price of 1,000 popular products, while Ocado said it is investing in the price of branded and private label products.

There was no reply from Tesco.