Shoppers’ annual grocery bills ‘to rise by £380’

Britons are set to see their annual grocery bills jump by £380 this year as food price inflation hits a fresh 13-year high, according to new figures.

The latest data from Kantar has revealed that grocery price inflation jumped to 8.3% over the four weeks to June 12 – up from 7% in May and its highest level since April 2009.

The soaring increases in the cost of food and groceries means the average annual shopping bill is now predicted to increase by £380 to £4,960 in 2022 – up by more than another £100 since April alone, Kantar said.

Shoppers are increasingly swapping branded items for cheaper own-label products as they look to manage their budgets, according to the research.

It found that sales of branded products fell by 1% in the 12 weeks to June 12, while own-label sales rose by 2.9% and value own-label lines surged by 12%.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said sales of own-label lines have been “boosted by Aldi and Lidl’s strong performances, both of whom have extensive own-label repertoires”.

“We can also see consumers turning to value ranges, such as Asda Smart Price, Co-op Honest Value and Sainsbury’s Imperfectly Tasty, to save money,” he added.

But, despite rising food bills, the data showed that Britons splashed out on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, with supermarket sales falls paring back to 1.9% in the 12 weeks to June 12 – the best performance since October last year.

Sales in the last four weeks grew by 0.4% year on year, it found, with sales during the week of the Platinum Jubilee £87 million higher than on average in 2022.

Mr McKevitt said: “The sector hasn’t been in growth since April 2021 as it measures up against the record sales seen during the pandemic.

“However, these latest numbers show the market is to an extent returning to pre-Covid norms as we begin comparisons with post-lockdown times.”

He added: “The inflation number makes for difficult reading and shoppers will be watching budgets closely as the cost-of-living crisis takes its toll.”

The figures showed that, over the Jubilee week, alcohol sales were up by a third and purchases of ice cream soared by 35% compared with the average in 2022.

The latest report also revealed that Tesco was the only one of the Big Four chains to increase its market share over the quarter, to 27.3% from 27.1% a year ago.

Sainsbury’s saw its share slip to 14.9% from 15.2%, Asda to 13.7% from 14.1% and Morrisons to 9.6% from 10.1%.