Average UK food bill rises by £454 a year as grocery inflation nears 14-year high

theguardian.com:

Supermarket inflation is expected to reach the highest level since at least 2008 in August after rising to almost 10% this month.

Families are facing a £454 increase in average annual grocery bills, adding pressure to the cost of living crisis, as prices of butter, milk and pet food rise at the fastest rates.

Inflation of 9.9% in the four weeks to 10 July and soaring sales of ice-cream and sun lotion – up 14% and 66% respectively – underpinned the first rise in overall grocery sales since April last year.

The 0.1% rise was driven by Aldi and Lidl, both of which increased sales by more than 11%.

An additional 1.4m households visited at least one of the discounters in the latest three months compared with last year as shoppers sought ways to cut their food bills amid rising prices.

Among the big four supermarkets, only Tesco increased sales, with Morrisons close to being overtaken by Aldi as the UK’s fourth-largest chain. Aldi controls 9.1% of the market against Morrisons’ 9.4% as the larger chains’ sales fell by 6.7%.

Fraser McKevitt, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Grocery prices continue to soar to near record-breaking heights and have jumped by another 1.6 percentage points since last month. This is the second-highest level of grocery inflation that we’ve seen since we started tracking prices in this way in 2008 and we’re likely to surpass the previous high come August.

“All this means that people will be feeling the pinch during our first restriction-free summer since 2019. Taking a barbecue as an example, buying burgers, halloumi and coleslaw for some alfresco dining would cost you 13%, 17% and 14% more than it would have this time last year.”

He said buying enough for a typical family barbecue