A recent study conducted by the consumer group Which? has shown that the price of several UK food staples has increased significantly in the last year, with dairy
products particularly hard hit by inflation. The price of cheddar cheese rose by an average of 28.3% across eight major supermarkets compared to the previous year, while one brand, Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar, increased by 80%. Porridge oats rose by an average of 35.5%, while sliced white bread saw an average increase of 22.8%. The cost of white potatoes rose by around 14%, with a four-pack of baking potatoes at Morrisons increasing from 40p to 66p - a rise of 63.5%. Pork sausages increased by an average of 26.8%. However, it was the cheapest products that were hit the hardest by inflation in percentage terms.
Overall, inflation on food and drink at supermarkets rose in March to 17.2%, up from 16.5% the month before. Which? analysed inflation on more than 26,000 food and drink products at eight supermarkets, selecting a basket of staple foods including cheddar cheese, sliced white bread, pork sausages, white potatoes, and porridge oats to find which of these everyday products had seen the biggest price hikes. The figures showed that it was the cheapest products that were hit hardest by inflation in percentage terms. Which?'s tracker showed supermarket own-label budget items - which are still the cheapest overall - were up 24.8% in March compared with the same time last year, higher than the 20.5% increase seen on standard supermarket own brands and the 13.8% on branded and premium own-brand ranges.
Supermarkets say that dairy products have been hit the hardest by inflation. A Waitrose spokesperson said that dairy was one of the categories "most impacted" by inflation, which "no retailer is immune" to. However, Waitrose is "working hard to keep our prices as low as possible, whilst paying our farmers and suppliers fairly, and maintaining high animal welfare standards". An Asda spokesperson said that despite global inflationary pressures, the supermarket was working hard to keep prices down for customers. They recently announced that they would be freezing the prices of over 500 popular branded and own-label products, more than half of which were fresh meat, dairy, fruit, and vegetable products until the end of May.
Which? is calling on the major supermarkets to act by making budget line items widely available, particularly in areas where people are most in need, and to make pricing and offers more transparent so that people can easily work out which products are the best value. The consumer group has warned that even value foods, despite remaining a cheaper option, are at risk of becoming too expensive for those on the tightest budgets. Photo by Whittle100, Wikimedia commons.