Grocery inflation at record high
Shoppers are using several supermarkets to get the best deals
Grocery price inflation has hit another record high to add a potential £837 to annual household bills as shoppers increasingly turn to multiple supermarkets to hunt for bargains.
Analysts, Kantar, says supermarket inflation hit 17.5% in the month to March 19, up from 17.1% in February.
Consumers are "taking action" by shopping around for the best value, with footfall up at every grocer and households going to the shops just over four times a week in March - the highest frequency seen since the start of the pandemic apart from Christmas.
Last month's vegetable shortages appear to have had little effect on consumers, with the number of baskets containing tomatoes, cucumbers or peppers across the 10 major grocers remaining at 17% - the same as in February.
The independent grocers stepped in to make up any shortfall, seeing their sales of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers rising by 32%, 26% and 21% respectively.
Ninth month of double-digit grocery price inflation
Head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, Fraser McKevitt, said: "Unfortunately, it's more bad news for the British public, who are experiencing the ninth month of double-digit grocery price inflation.
"However, shoppers are taking action and clearly hunting around for the best value.
"This is a fiercely competitive sector and if people don't like the prices in one store they will go elsewhere, with consumers visiting three or more of the top 10 retailers in any given month on average."
Retailers are also using loyalty card schemes to attract and retain shoppers, and more than nine in 10 consumers use at least one of the schemes, Kantar found.
Shoppers are also trying to offset rising prices by choosing more own-label lines, with sales up again by 15.8% during the latest four weeks compared with last year.
However, branded goods still make up 52% of the market and sales grew by 7.2% over the past month, the fastest rate seen since February 2021.
Again, consumers seem unwilling to let the cost-of-living crisis interrupt celebrations, with sales of chocolate Easter eggs up 6% on last year and sales of hot cross buns up by 5%.
Lidl was the fastest-growing supermarket with sales rising by 25.8% to achieve 7.4% market share, while Aldi achieved a record market share of 9.9%.
Morrisons saw a return to growth with sales rising by 0.1%, and Waitrose increased its sales by 2.1% to deliver the fastest rate of growth for the John Lewis Partnership-owned supermarket since September 2021.
Last week the Office for National Statistics reported that UK inflation shot up unexpectedly to 10.4% in February as vegetable shortages pushed food prices to their highest rate in more than 45 years.
The cost of living crisis is affecting many:
Interest rates and inflation go up
Inflation rose by 8.8% in the 12 months to January 2023, down from 9.2% in December 2022. With interest rates also rising to 4%, those saving money will earn more interest on their finances, whilst those paying mortgages would pay more interest to the bank.
Energy bills
The price of energy went up incredibly as the cost of living crisis hit, with the gas price spike caused largely by the war in Ukraine. The price cap - which is set by an independent regulator to help offset costs onto customers - was set to rise to £3,549 for an average home in October but a price freeze from the government restricted the typical bill to £2,500. That's still an increase of 27% from the previous energy cap and as it's a cap on unit cost, the more energy you use the higher your bill will be.
Food prices
The cost of a weekly shop also has gone up as a result of the cost of living crisis. As a result of the war in Ukraine, a number of products including cooking oils and wheat have been disrupted. This means that several products are now considerably more expensive, driving bills up for customers.
Prices at the pumps
The average cost of petrol has also rose to unprecedented levels. Supply lines for petrol have been thrown into doubt as a result of the war in Ukraine, as Russia is a large export partner for gas, oil and fuel. In April 2022, the average price for a litre of petrol on the forecourt was 160.2p, whilst a litre of diesel would cost 170.5p. By late June 2022 the price had risen to an average of 190.9p for a litre of unleaded and 198.9p for a litre of diesel. In March 2023 the price wass on average of 147.03 in petrol and 167.04 in diesel.
Average cost of filling up a car with petrol hits £100
On 9th June 2022, the average cost of filling up a car with petrol hit £100 for the first time ever. Diesel had already hit that milestone. It comes as the cost of fuel hit a record high of one pound eighty a litre. The 2p rise was the biggest daily jump in 17 years. Prices have dropped by at least 20p per litre since the high point.