LONDON – British grocery inflation edged lower in April but remained near record highs, industry data showed on Tuesday, providing little relief for consumers being hammered by a cost-of-living crisis.
Market researcher Kantar said grocery inflation was 17.3 percent in the four weeks to April 16, down from the record 17.5 percent in its March data set.
It said April saw a tenth month in a row of double digit grocery price inflation, with prices rising fastest in markets such as eggs, milk and cheese.
Fruits on display at a stall in Lewisham Market, south east London, Britain, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File photo
“The latest drop in grocery price inflation will be welcome news for shoppers but it’s too early to call the top,” Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, said.
“We’ve been here before when the rate fell at the end of 2022, only for it to rise again over the first quarter of this year,” he said.
The Kantar data for April provides the most up to date snapshot of UK grocery inflation.
Official UK data published last week showed overall consumer price inflation fell to 10.1 percent in March. However, prices of food and non-alcoholic drinks were 19.1 percent higher in March than a year earlier, the biggest such rise since August 1977.
The British Retail Consortium, which represents the major supermarket groups, has said it expects consumer food prices to start coming down over the next few months, while the Bank of England has forecast overall inflation will drop to below 4 percent by the end of the year.
Kantar said UK grocery sales rose 8.1 percent over the four week period year-on-year.
It said Britons were continuing to turn to supermarkets’ own label lines, which are usually cheaper than branded products, to help manage spending.
Signage is seen at a branch of Aldi Local in London, Britain, June 17, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File photo
Own-label sales were up 13.5 percent year-on-year with the very cheapest value own-label lines up 46 percent, while branded sales were up 4.4 percent.
Discounters Aldi and Lidl both hit record market shares over the 12 weeks to April 16, at 10.1 percent and 7.6 percent respectively.
Lidl was the fastest growing grocer with sales up 25.1 percent, while Aldi’s rose 25 percent.
“Consumers are continuing to shop around, visiting at least three major retailers every month on average. The discounters have been big beneficiaries of this,” added McKevitt.
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