Latest figures from Which?’s food and drink inflation tracker show the price of some everyday groceries has more than doubled over the last year as the cost of supermarket own-label lines continues to rise.
The consumer watchdog’s analysis looked at the price of more than 25,000 food and drink products at eight supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – to find which products have seen the biggest percentage rises. The study covered the average price of the products in the three months to the end of February compared to the same time period last year.
The items where the average price has more than doubled included Asda’s Free From Special Flakes (300g) and Waitrose’s Essential Italian Mozzarella Strength 1 (drained 150g) – which went from 62p to £1.43 (129%) and 80p to £1.77 (121%) respectively. Morrisons Free From Corn Flakes (300g) also rose significantly, from 60p to £1.29 (115%).
Sainsbury’s Hubbard’s Foodstore Water (2L), Tesco Creamfields French Brie (200G) and Lidl’s Chene D’argent Camembert (250g) also more than doubled in price m– going from 17p to 35p (106%), 82p to £1.65 (103%) and 99p to £2 (102%) respectively.
Which? also found a range of other everyday items that have seen high double-digit increases. Overall, budget (22.9%) and own-label (19.7%) items were again subject to higher rates of inflation than premium (13.8%) and branded counterparts (13.3%).
The tracker shows that in February, the annual inflation rate for the food and drink items covered in the analysis was 16.5% across the eight retailers. While the increases have dropped slightly among some high inflation categories – such as butters and spreads, which fell from 29.9% last month to 26.1% this month – the study found it has risen across other essential categories.
For example, inflation on vegetables rose from 11.6% to 13%, juice drinks and smoothies went from 13.4% to 15.1%, and cereals increased from 13.4% to 14.6%.
When Which? looked at inflation rates by retailer, it found that while the discounters remain generally cheaper than the traditional supermarkets, they appeared to have less room for flexibility when it comes to passing on higher costs to customers.
The tracker shows prices were up 24.4% at Lidl, compared to 22.7% at Aldi, 17% at Asda, 16.7% at Morrisons, 14.2% at Waitrose, 14.1% at Sainsbury’s,14% at Tesco and 10.3% at Ocado.
“Worryingly, our tracker shows that some everyday essentials have more than doubled in price over the last year – with cheaper own-brand items particularly hard hit,” said Sue Davies, Which? Head of Food Policy.
“Supermarkets need to step up and ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need. Retailers must also provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.”
NAM Implications:
- The mistake would be thinking that the consumer doesn’t notice.
- Beware a build-up of resentment that will show itself when the opportunity arises to get even…
