We all know that supermarket prices are going up but our monthly survey of prices have shown just how much in the past seven months. Since April WalesOnline has been tracking the price of seven staple items at seven of the biggest supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl, and Marks & Spencer.
In that time most bills have increased and the difference between April and October is actually quite stark with prices at Sainsbury's rising by £2.60 for the basket of goods. One of the biggest rises has been milk, which is now £1.25 for two pints of semi-skimmed at all the of supermarkets compared to 95p at the majority in April. The £1.25 price means there has been a 36% jump since January.
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 £9.95 but that is up 30p from September's prices and up nearly £2 (£1.99) since April. Second 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.
With a total cost of £10.79 Lidl was the fourth-cheapest. That was an increase of 20p on September and £1.60 since April. Fifth was Asda with an £11.13 basket – up £1.51 since September and £1.70 since April.
The two most expensive were Morrisons with £11.95 (up 34p from September and £1.11 over six months) while Sainsburys was £2.45 more expensive than the Aldi basket at £12.40 (60p more expensive than September and an increase of £2.60 from April).
New national research shows that shoppers are now paying an average of £643 more for groceries than last year after inflation hit 13.9% over September – a record high since the marketing data and analytics company Kantar began tracking prices in this way during the 2008 financial crash. In an apparent effort to offset soaring bills consumers sent collective sales of ranges including Tesco Perfectly Imperfect and Morrisons Naturally Wonky up 38% over the month.
Supermarket own-label lines increased by 8.1% this month while branded items declined by 0.7%. Marmalade sales also rose by 18% in September as the nation paid its respects to the Queen.
People also appear to be searching for cheaper ways to cook rather than using their ovens. Sales of cooking appliances including slow cookers, air fryers, and sandwich makers, which generally use less energy, are up by 53%. Meanwhile sales of duvets and electric blankets have grown by 8% while candles increased by 9%, suggesting people may be preparing for possible winter blackouts.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: "The cost of living crisis is still hitting people hard at the checkouts and this latest data will make tough reading for many.
"Of course consumers are looking for ways to manage budgets and to avoid paying more for their shopping. We're generally reluctant to change what we eat so this is more about sticking to the food we know and love while hunting for cheaper alternatives like supermarkets' own label goods.
"We aren't seeing dramatic evidence of diets changing. For example while frozen veg sales have gone up slightly there hasn't been a big switch away from fresh products, which are still worth 10 times more. However one standout from the data this month was the surge in marmalade sales by 18% as the nation paid its respects to the Queen."
The scale of price rises is trumping sustainability concerns for many people with the proportion of British shoppers who try to buy products with more environmentally-friendly packaging slipping to 59% – down from 62% last year. Asda led the way among the biggest traditional supermarkets, attracting an additional 417,000 customers over the 12-week period.
For the fifth month in a row Lidl was the fastest-growing grocer this period, pushing up its sales by 20.9% over the 12 weeks – marginally ahead of Aldi whose sales rose by 20.7%. Lidl's share of the market is now 7.1%, up from 6.2% last year, while Aldi moved to 9.3% from 8%.
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