UK food inflation: Which items have increased in price the most?

British food inflation has dropped below 10 per cent for the first time since July 2022, giving customers some relief as they approach the busy Christmas shopping season.

Annual grocery inflation dropped from 11 per cent in last month's report to 9.7 per cent in the four weeks leading up to October 29, according to market research firm Kantar.

In recent months, the main supermarket chains in the nation have all lowered the pricing of certain necessities.

Sainsbury's reported last week that it has invested 118 million pounds in price control since March.

Food sales increased 7.4 per cent over the previous year in the four weeks leading up to October 29, Kantar says.

According to the report, own label lines increased by 8 per cent throughout the time frame; however, branded goods rose at a faster rate, growing by 6.7 per cent.

The researcher also observed that, compared to the previous year, the percentage of sales at every supermarket store that came from promotions was higher — a development that has only occurred once in almost a decade.

Spending on promotions reached its highest point since Christmas of last year, accounting for 27.2 per cent of total supermarket purchases.

The biggest decline in the category of milk, cheese, and eggs was seen in the prices of cheese and curd, which dropped 3.3 per cent between August and September.

As a result, the annual inflation rate for milk, cheese, and eggs decreased from 15.3 per cent in August to 12.3 per cent in the year ending in September 2023.

From 8.8 per cent in June to 9.1 per cent in September 2023, restaurant and café prices increased.

Given that food prices are one of the most significant contributors to the UK’s overall rate of inflation, here is a look at the types of food that have seen the highest price surges.

How much have weekly shops increased?

Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt, has explained that consumers have made a number of changes to how they shop and where they shop from, which has led to an average increase in households’ weekly grocery shop of £5.13 compared with last year.

This figure would have been £11.27 if they had continued to shop the way they were 12 months ago.

One of the ways in which shoppers have changed their behaviours was by hunting for better deals at discount supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, causing the chain of stores to take a bigger share of spending compared to their rivals and recording the fastest pace of growth in the market.

Which food types have the highest inflation?

According to Which?, cheese is the fastest-rising food type across all 20 categories. Milk, yoghurt, and biscuits are among the worst-hit categories.

The price-comparison service tracked annual inflation for the three months from April-June 2023.

This is the full table of rises across different supermarket products.