Our love for pasta? It’s all dried up

SHOPPERS are spending less on pasta, new figures reveal.

Britons spent £4.5million less on it in the year to July compared to the previous period, ending four years of booming sales.

Consumers ate 1.3million lbs less spaghetti and 9.7million lbs less dry pasta shapes in the period.

The slump in pasta sales comes after price cuts in supermarkets failed to boost demand.

Falling demand for pasta has hit sales of sauces which are down by nearly £23million, said analysts Kantar Worldpanel.

Richard Taylor, of branding agency Brandon, told The Grocer magazine: ‘The pasta and pasta sauces category is close to being in crisis, with growth a real struggle.’

While sales of own-brand pasta are holding up, supermarkets are cutting back on more expensive premium brands.

Cheryl Choo, of Kantar Worldpanel, said: ‘Consumers are putting more of a focus on lower prices ... which has resulted in shoppers being more inclined to buy cheaper own-label lines to get more value for money.’