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Many groceries are racing ahead of the current rate of 9% inflation, but others are falling in price according to some consumer groups — providing opportunities for nifty deal finders.
Comparison website Trolley said a small number of products became cheaper over the past year rather than going up in price like most foodstuffs.
Mackerel has fallen in price by 7.3 per cent since 2021, while sweet chilli sauce now costs 6 per cent less and tuna chunks are 2.6 per cent cheaper.
Chocolate oranges were also 4.4 per cent less expensive than they were a year ago, as were crispbreads — showing a 7.8 per cent decrease since May 2021 — with sprinkles down 5.3 per cent, tomatoes down 0.8 per cent and biscuit bars 4.6 per cent cheaper.
Britons looking to cut back on their food bills amid the cost of living crisis are being hit with bigger price rises in discount chains than in their supermarket rivals, according to new data
Analysis of Trolley.co.uk data by MailOnline shows how the average cost of a 20 item shopping basket across all supermarkets is now £3 more expensive than it was in May last year – a rise of 6.45 per cent. Pictured: A graphic showing how individual items in the 20 item basket have increased. The costs are based on average costs of an item across a number of supermarkets and include larger packs and more expensive brands – bringing up the average cost. Pictures are for illustrative purposes and not the actual cost of those items
For household items, air fresheners are 4.1 per cent cheaper than a year ago and cleaning sprays are 5.3 per cent cheaper.
Although there are some outliers, the general trend has been to more expensive foodstuffs across the UK.
Some groceries have risen in price by more than 20 per cent between December 2021 and February 2022, found UK consumer group Which?
Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes Cereal (500g) were up 21.4 per cent at Tesco, for example, while Own-Label Closed Cup Mushrooms (250g) had gone up by 21.4 per cent at Asda and Cathedral City Extra Mature Cheddar (350g) was up 21.1 per cent at Ocado.
Fizzy drinks had the biggest price rises at 5.85 per cent on average, followed by butters and spreads at 4.9% per cent, energy drinks at 4.8% per cent and milk by 4.6% per cent.
Consumer group Which? reported that inflation had been the least severe at Waitrose at 1.61%
The Which? study of UK foods found 265 items now cost at least 20p more than they did in 2020.
The study said inflation across 21,000 groceries was 3.14 per cent on average, whereas market analysis group Kantar said food inflation was at 5.9 per cent in April.
Supermarkets are also cutting back on discounts and promotions, said the report, as well as cutting product sizes while charging the same amount in a process known as ‘shrinkflation’.
A multipack of Walkers classic variety crisps was cut from 24 bags to 22 at Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons last autumn, but the price stayed the same.
Pictured: A graphic showing the average cost of a 20 item basket has increased in the last 12 months at each supermarket, according to analysis of data from Trolley.co.uk’s Grocery Price Index. The 20 items, selected by MailOnline, include essentials such as bread, milk and eggs, as well as washing powder, toothpaste, and commonly bought luxuries such as beer and wine
The amount of instant coffee in a Nescafé Azera Americano decaff shrank from 100g to 90g in Tesco in February, but the price stayed at £5.49.
Which? said that Morrisons had the highest inflation of the supermarkets across two years, at 4.08 per cent, followed by Asda (3.97%), Tesco (3.48%), Aldi (3.2%), Sainsbury’s (3.07%), Lidl (2.92%), Ocado (2.9%) and Waitrose (1.61%).
The Bank of England predicts inflation will peak at 10% later in 2022, but some experts — including former central bank officials — are more skeptical.
Economists have compared Britain’s dismal economic inflation forecast to the harsh economic atmosphere of the 1970s, under Thatcher’s Britain.
Between 1950 and 1970, the price of a pint was nearly four times more expensive across the two decades — the cost of a beer followed a similar price increase over the twenty years between 2000 and 2020.
But between 1970 and 1990, the price of a pint had risen almost tenfold. Should a pint of beer in the UK follow the trajectory across the next few decades as it did in the 70s, one pint in a UK pub could cost around £50 by 2040.
