Supermarket shoppers face paying £811 more as grocery inflation hits 17.1%

28 February 2023 , 09:23

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Supermarket shoppers are paying more in stores (Image: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Shoppers face paying an additional £811 in the supermarkets after food prices hit a new record high.

This is according to the latest analysis by Kantar, which shows grocery price inflation has hit 17.1%.

The data covers the seven days to February 14 and is up from 16.7% the previous month. It is also the highest rate since Kantar started tracking prices in 2008.

Kantar noted how prices are rising fastest in markets such as milk, eggs and margarine.

But sales of typical Valentine’s Day products also saw huge increases - steaks were up by a quarter, sparkling wine sales doubled and shoppers spent an extra £5million on boxed chocolates.

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Meanwhile, cold treatments rose by 82%, cough liquids were up 78% and cough lozenges jumped 70% higher.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: "Shoppers have been facing sustained price rises for some time now and this February marks a full year since monthly grocery inflation climbed above 4%. This is having a big impact on people's lives.

"Our latest research shows that grocery price inflation is the second most important financial issue for the public behind energy costs, with two thirds of people concerned by food and drink prices, above public sector strikes and climate change.

"One quarter say they're struggling financially, versus one in five this time last year. The numbers speak for themselves. If people don’t change how they buy their groceries, households are facing an £811 increase to their average annual bill."

Aldi's market share reached a record 9.4% and remains the fastest growing grocer, according to Kantar, with sales up by 26.7%.

It was closely followed by Lidl, which increased sales by 25.4% and achieved a market share of 7.1%.

Frozen food supermarket Iceland saw its market share grow to 2.4%, up from 2.3% last year, as spending through its tills increased by 10.8%.

Tesco edged slightly ahead in the battle between Britain’s biggest retailers, with sales up by 6.6%, followed by Sainsbury’s and Asda who were just behind with sales rising by 6.2% and 5.9% respectively.

Morrisons ’ sales decline of 0.9% was its best performance since May 2021.

Ocado put in a strong performance, bucking the overall trend in online sales.

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While online fell by 0.9% over the 12 weeks, the digital specialist grew sales by 11.3% to achieve its largest ever market share of 1.9%.

Levi Winchester