Shoppers can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the relentless climb in food prices takes a welcome respite. According to data from Kantar, grocery price inflation has dipped to 12.2 percent in September, marking its lowest level in a year.
This decrease comes as a modest relief, down from 12.7 percent in August and a significant drop from the alarming 17 percent surge witnessed earlier in the spring. The soaring prices of essential food items, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which in turn led to increased costs of fuel and fertilizers, have been a major concern for consumers.
Staple foods like pasta, bread, eggs, milk, and cereals have witnessed unprecedented price hikes, prompting scrutiny of major food corporations’ pricing strategies. Companies such as Unilever, Nestle, Premier Foods, and Associated British Foods (ABF) have faced heightened criticism for raising prices well beyond the rate of inflation, safeguarding their substantial profit margins.
In a previous revelation, Premier Foods was exposed for hiking the price of Bisto gravy by a staggering 76 percent, while Unilever doubled the cost of its Pot Noodles, and ABF reduced the size of Twinings tea packs by a fifth while simultaneously increasing their prices.
ABF, the conglomerate behind brands like Kingsmill and Tilda rice, has recently declared that it won’t pass on further price increases for the remainder of the year now that inflation has eased.
Kantar’s data analysts reveal that financially strained consumers have shifted a significant £3 billion in spending from pricier food brands to more budget-friendly own-label products offered by supermarkets. This shift in consumer behavior has resulted in over half of food shopping being allocated to supermarket-owned brands, further bolstering the popularity of discount retailers like Aldi and Lidl.
This development suggests a temporary respite for consumers grappling with soaring grocery bills and offers hope that the pressure on household budgets may begin to alleviate, even if only modestly, as food inflation begins to taper down.
