Grocery price inflation falls for fifth month in a row, retail data suggests | Business News

The price of staples together with milk and sunflower oil is now lower than in the spring, carefully watched data from Kantar Worldpanel discovered. Researchers additionally stated the UK’s current moist climate contributed to a fall in gross sales of ice cream and tender drinks.
By Daniel Binns, enterprise reporter
Grocery price inflation has eased for the fifth month in a row – as the price of some staples come down.
Closely watched data from Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks grocery store gross sales and payments, discovered that whereas the expense of a meals store remains to be increased than final 12 months, the tempo of price rises has been slowing down this summer season.
Its researchers reported a grocery price inflation price of 12.7% in the 4 weeks to 6 August – a 2.2 share level drop from the month earlier than.
Kantar stated a fall in the price of some staples was a issue.
Items which have seen a price discount embody:
- Pint of milk: £1.50 down from £1.69 in March
- Litre of sunflower oil: £2.19 down from £2.41 in the spring
Kantar’s head of retail and shopper perception, Fraser McKevitt, stated: “The newest slowdown in price rises is the second sharpest month-to-month fall since we began monitoring grocery inflation in this manner again in 2008.
“Prices are still up year on year across every supermarket shelf, but consumers will have been relieved to see the cost of some staple goods starting to edge down compared with earlier in 2023.”
He stated the common improve in households’ weekly grocery store is £5.13, compared with final 12 months.
Researchers additionally discovered that the current moist climate throughout a lot of the UK had an impression on supermarkets’ figures in July.
Sales of ice cream and Halloumi have been down round 30% – whereas purchases of soppy drinks fell by practically a fifth.
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However gross sales of soup – historically seen as a winter hotter product – have been up 16% year-on-year.
Kantar stated the gloomy climate was additionally more likely to have contributed to a drop in footfall, which was down for the primary time in 18 months as folks made 320,000 fewer journeys to supermarkets in comparison with a 12 months in the past.
Overall take-home grocery gross sales rose by 6.5% in the 4 weeks to 6 August, down from 10.4% in the earlier interval.
But researchers stated different supermarkets might quickly profit from the collapse of Wilko, which went into administration final week.
The chain’s 400 shops stay open – for now – however its long-term future is in doubt.
“Wilko is a popular choice for many shoppers with 7.6 million households visiting its stores to buy groceries in the last year,” stated Mr McKevitt.
He added: “Wilko’s rivals will be keeping a close eye on its fortunes in the coming days and weeks as they look to draw some of its shoppers through their doors.”
Kantar’s analysis comes forward of latest official inflation figures, that are attributable to be launched by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday morning.
Last month it reported a bigger-than-expected drop in the speed to 7.9% in the 12 months as much as June.
The Bank of England then determined to boost rates of interest for the 14th time in a row to 5.25% as a part of makes an attempt to carry inflation again all the way down to its goal of 2%.
Economy extra ‘resilient’ than anticipated
Inflation is anticipated to fall once more this week, though consultants imagine it’s unlikely the Bank will obtain its goal this 12 months.
The Bank of England’s chief economist, Huw Pill, additionally stated final week that meals costs might by no means fall again to the extent they have been earlier than the conflict in Ukraine started.
Separate figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) earlier this month additionally steered meals price inflation has been falling in current months, with the price of some staples coming down.
But it warned the pattern might not proceed easily this 12 months as a result of there have been “dark clouds on the horizon”.
The BRC stated this included the potential impression on costs of Russia’s choice to tug out of a deal to permit the secure export of grain from Ukraine, in addition to a ban by the Indian authorities on the export of some forms of rice.