A quarter of British shoppers struggle as grocery prices soar

theguardian.com:

A quarter of British people say they are struggling financially, up from a fifth a year ago, as grocery price inflation hits the highest level on record at 17.1%.

Households who have not changed their shopping habits are spending £811 a year more on grocery bills than 12 months ago, according to the latest figures from the market research firm Kantar which said it was now a year since grocery inflation had topped 4%.

Fraser McKevitt, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said people were adapting by buying more supermarket own-label goods and visiting discounters such as Aldi and Lidl more often.

Sales of own-label lines rose by 13.2% in February, well ahead of branded products at 4.6% and McKevitt said this was “a trend that shows little sign of stopping”.

Grocery inflation reached a new high, led by milk, eggs and margarine, with the higher price on basics adding to pressure on households already affected by increased energy bills and higher rents or mortgage rates.

Aldi was the fastest growing grocery chain in the UK, with sales up almost 27%, closely followed by Lidl with growth of just over 25%. In contrast, all the other chains saw growth behind the rate of inflation while Morrisons sales slid almost 1% as the chain continued to struggle. Waitrose booked its first period of growth in almost 18 months.

Overall grocery sales for the UK rose 8.1% in the 12 weeks to 20 February as families bought fewer items or changed behaviour to limit their bills.

, the chief executive of Ocado, where sales rose 7.6% in the three-month period according to Kantar, said that grocery retailers benefited from changing behaviour as people switched from dining out to cooking at home more.

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