Inflation rises to 10.4% with price of some supermarket items doubling in a year

The price of groceries continues to soar with some items having doubled in price since this time last year.

Consumer champion Which? analysed inflation on more than 25,000 food and drink products at eight different supermarkets including Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

The study results are revealed at the same time the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced Consumer Prices Index inflation rose to 10.4% in February.

The surprise jump saw a 0.3% increase from January, despite experts expecting it to fall to 9.9%.

Food prices are now at their highest rate in more than 45 years amid the cost of living crisis, with the Which? analysis revealing the items which have seen the biggest percentage price rises in the last year.

The research looked at the average price of the products in the three months to the end of February 2023, compared to the same time period last year.

The items which saw the heaviest price rises in percentage terms mostly included dairy, meat and fruit, with own-brand products hit particularly hard.

The tracker found budget items had increased overall by 22.9% and own-brand products by 19.7% – which had higher levels of inflation than premium equivalents, which saw a 13.8% increase, or branded groceries which increased by 13.3%.

The inflation rates have dropped slightly for items such as butters and spreads, but have risen across other essential categories such as vegetables, juice drinks and smoothies.

This is likely to have been driven by fruit and vegetable shortages in recent weeks, thought to have been caused by a mixture of bad weather and poor transport in Europe and Africa.

Which? also found discount supermarkets generally remained cheaper than their rivals, but appeared to have less flexibility when passing on costs to customers.

Prices were rising overall the fastest at Lidl, with Aldi close behind.

A Which? spokesperson said: ‘Which? is campaigning for all supermarkets to ensure that budget line items which enable an affordable and healthy diet are widely available, particularly in areas where people are most in need. 

‘They must also make pricing and offers more transparent so that people can easily work out which products are the best value.

‘Alongside the University of Leeds Consumer Data Research Centre, Which? has developed the Priority Places For Food Index which shows where in the UK people are the most vulnerable to food insecurity. 

‘So far more than 68,000 people have signed our petition calling on the supermarkets to take action.’

The ONS said food and non-alcoholic drinks prices rose by 18% year-on-year last month, up from 16.7% in January and the highest since August 1977.

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: ‘Inflation ticked up in February, mainly driven by rising alcohol prices in pubs and restaurants following discounting in January.

‘Food and non-alcoholic drink prices rose to their highest rate in over 45 years with particular increases for some salad and vegetable items as high energy costs and bad weather across parts of Europe led to shortages and rationing.

‘These were partially offset by falls in the cost of motor fuel, where the annual inflation rate has eased for seven consecutive months.’

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that ‘falling inflation isn’t inevitable’.

He added: ‘So we need to stick to our plan to halve it this year.

‘We recognise just how tough things are for families across the country, so as we work towards getting inflation under control we will help families with cost-of-living support worth £3,300 on average per household this year.’

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: ‘The reality is that under this Tory Government, families are feeling worse off and nothing is working better than it did 13 years ago.

‘The cost-of-living crisis is still biting hard and taxes are rising, yet the Government chose to use the Budget to hand a £1 billion bung to the top 1%.

‘Labour will stand with working people and with our mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7, make families across every part of our country feel better off.’

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