As shoppers face an uphill battle against rising food costs, our monthly looking at prices shows the battle between supermarkets to try and keep costs down for consumers. With the cost of living crisis hitting hard, we've been helping customers keep track of prices by comparing the cost of essentials like bread and milk at the seven main supermarkets since March.
The prices for November show that the cost of a shopping basket of seven essential items is now above £10 at all the supermarkets, but it has also shown that prices at two supermarkets - Morrisons and Sainsburys - did fall between October and November.
One of the biggest rises continues to be with milk, which is now £1.30 for two pints of semi-skimmed at Lidl and Asda, and £1.25 at the other supermarkets, apart from Morrisons where it has been reduced to £1.15 this month. This is compared to March when it was mainly 95p at all the supermarkets involved.
There was also a noticeable increase in the price of eggs at the majority of the supermarkets, mainly because of a lack of supply. A lot of the cheaper brands seemed to be out of stock.
That comes amid reports the UK is experiencing a shortage of eggs and the situation is only getting worse. Shoppers are already seeing empty shelves as avian flu continues to hit the 'broken' egg market.
The items bought each month are:
- two pints of semi-skimmed milk
- a box of six free range eggs
- 350g pack of mature cheddar cheese
- 500g of spaghetti
- one loaf of thick-cut white sliced bread
- six Braeburn apples
- a 12-pack of breakfast wheat cereal
In our survey Aldi has retained its title of cheapest supermarket with the items costing £10.11, but that is up from £9.95 in October and £9.65 in September.
Sainsburys have moved from the most expensive supermarket to the second cheapest with a drop in price from £12.40 to £10.21, this was mainly due to a drop in price of the cheese and apples. Marks and Spencer dropped from the third cheapest to the most expensive with milk there rising from £1.15 for two pints of semi-skimmed milk to £1.25, bread increasing by 10p and spaghetti rising to £1.65 from 85p.
That is up 30p from September's prices and up nearly £2 (£1.99) since April. Second most expensive is Tesco with a total cost of £10.53 with prices increasing £1.30 over the month. Several items in the September basket had been subject to offers that were not available in October. Prices there have increased £1.04 since April.
Marks & Spencer has repeatedly been in the cheapest three over the past eight months but prices between September and October have gone up £1 to £10.70 making an increase of 95p since April.
We've seen prices yo-yo during that time, some of which have shocked shoppers, like when Morrisons went from being the cheapest to the most expensive in a matter of weeks.
Yet while there have been many changes, there has been one constant since the summer - and that was Aldi has kept the top spot most months..
Lidl has also seen quite a jump in the past month, the retailer has ditched its cheapest £1.72 butter for a £1.99 block. But now the price of that has risen to £2.15.
It's also put the cost of its cheapest loaf up from 36p to 39p as well as the price hike for milk.
It comes as the latest figures show that grocery price inflation has hit a record 14.7% to add a potential £682 to the annual cost of a basket amid warnings there is still no sign of a peak.
Sales of supermarket own-label products jumped again by 10.3% over the latest four weeks and the cheapest value ranges grew by 42% as shoppers sought to manage their budgets, according to Kantar.
Just over a quarter of households (27%) say they are struggling financially - double the figure recorded last November, the research firm said.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: "Yet again, we have a new record high figure for grocery price inflation and it's too early right now to call the top.
"Consumers face a £682 jump in their annual grocery bill if they continue to buy the same items, and just over a quarter of all households now say they're struggling financially, which is double the proportion we recorded last November.
"Nine in 10 of this group say higher food and drink prices are a major concern, second only to energy bills, so it's clear just how much grocery inflation is hitting people's wallets and adding to their domestic worries."
Some consumers found light relief at Halloween, and just over one in 10 households bought a pumpkin in October, although sales were down compared with last year.
Fewer people stocked the cupboards for Christmas in October, preferring to wait until later in the year.
Mr McKevitt said: "This time last year two million consumers had already bought their festive Christmas pudding. We've seen 32% fewer shoppers doing that this time around, suggesting people are not trying to spread the cost of their purchasing - at least not in October."
Aldi was the fastest growing retailer in the latest period, increasing its sales by 22.7% year on year to gain 9.2% market share, while Lidl boosted sales by 21.5% to take its market share to a new record of 7.2%.
Asda again led the traditional Big Four supermarkets with sales growing by 5.3% to maintain an overall market share of 14.3%.
Mr McKevitt said: "With economic forecasters warning of a potential recession, it's worth reflecting on how much the grocery landscape has changed since the 2008 financial crash.
"We've seen a rise in the market share of the discounters Aldi and Lidl, which together now stands at 16.4%, versus 4.4% 14 years ago."
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