Shoppers have seen their grocery bills soar at the fastest rate since 2008 following spikes in the price of butter, milk and chicken, according to new data. Research firm Kantar has revealed grocery price inflation jumped to 11.6% for the four weeks to August 7, compared with 9.9% in the previous month.
Those figures equate to a £533 annual increase in the average UK household's grocery bill, or £10.25 every week if you buy the same products as you did last year. Experts say consumers are now shopping around more and switching supermarkets in response to the cost-of-living crunch.
I have also been tracking the cost the essential items in seven of the biggest supermarkets in Wales for the past six months, looking at how much prices are fluctuating. I have been carrying out the same shop in supermarkets in Cardiff in the middle of each month since March, and one of the biggest increases has been in the price of milk. You can get more cost-of-living news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more: UK's cheapest online supermarket named
Prices at six of the seven supermarkets have increased in the time period, with only the shopping basket from Marks & Spencer dropping because of the introduction of its 'Value' range.
After staying fixed at 95p for two pints for the first three months, the price has risen by 20p in six stores - Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Aldi, M&S and Sainsbury's., and by 30p to £1.25 at Morrisons.
Prices have also risen at six out of the seven supermarkets between March, with a huge 21% rise at Sainsburys - £10.80 for the same basket of essentials, compared to £8.90 in March - even though it was cheaper than Tesco and Morrisons in August.
Marks & Spencer has had one of the biggest changes and has constantly been one of the cheapest each month. This could be mainly down to the introduction of its new Value range with the price of a box of six eggs staying at £1 and a loaf of bread sticking around the 70p mark.
The retailer's Food Hall is normally considered by some the height of luxury when it comes to food shopping, but with the new range it is claiming that you can get all your weekly essentials for under £25. Read more about the range here.
According to those latest figures from Kantar, M&S has reported that sales of own-label value products increased by almost a fifth - 19.7% - as shoppers sought to make savings.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: "As predicted, we've now hit a new peak in grocery price inflation, with products like butter, milk and poultry in particular seeing some of the biggest jumps. This rise means that the average annual shop is set to increase by a staggering £533, or £10.25 every week, if consumers buy the same products as they did last year. It's not surprising that we're seeing shoppers make lifestyle changes to deal with the extra demands on their household budgets."
Lidl was once again the fastest growing supermarket chain, with sales up by 17.9% over the latest 12 weeks. Rival German discounter Aldi also performed strongly, reporting 14.4% growth, as customers were attracted to the two firms' cheaper product lines. Tesco was the strongest performer among the UK's biggest grocers, reporting 1% growth. Meanwhile, Asda saw sales increase by 0.2% and Sainsbury's recorded a 0.1% dip.
The worst performer of the big four was Morrisons, which saw sales decline by 4.9%.
Recent hot weather also resulted in a surge in sales of soft drinks, ice cream and summer clothes, according to the report.
Mr McKevitt added: "As the mercury climbs, shoppers have turned to mineral water and soft drinks to cool off. Sales of both products are up by 23% and 10% respectively in the latest four weeks. Unsurprisingly, ice creams are also popular with 18% year on year growth, up by four percentage points on the previous month."
The figures come just days after it was announced that the rate of inflation had hit a new 40-year high, rising into double figures to hit 10.1% The Consumer Price Index - the rate at which everything we buy is getting more expensive, was 9.4% in June and is now at its highest level since 1982. The level is higher than forecast with experts thinking it would stay below 10%. The inflation figure usually used to determine annual rises in some train fares set to be released by the ONS hours later at 9.30am is expected to be even higher.
After CPI inflation was shown to reach 10.1% in July, ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: “A wide range of price rises drove inflation up again this month. Food prices rose notably, particularly bakery products, dairy, meat and vegetables, which was also reflected in higher takeaway prices. Price rises in other staple items, such as pet food, toilet rolls, toothbrushes and deodorants also pushed up inflation in July.
“Driven by higher demand, the price for package holidays rose, after falling at the same time last year, while air fares also increased. The cost of both raw materials and goods leaving factories continued to rise, driven by the price of metals and food respectively.”
Read next:
- Lidl's 'middle aisle' set to be cut back as cost of living soars
- We compared Asda's Just Essentials prices to Aldi on 15 key items
-
Families say they are forced to cut down on food due to the cost of living
-
Iceland is offering interest-free loans to help shoppers with the cost of living crisis
-
Price of milk is rising so fast at supermarkets that it went up 10p while we were doing an Asda shop
Find out about food banks in your area:
