Basic pasta price up 50% as inflation hits homes

THE price of the cheapest pasta in UK supermarkets increased by half in just a year, as households deal with runaway inflation.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that pasta prices rose 50% between April last year and April this year. It tracked the increases in the price of the lowest-cost items in supermarkets.

Statisticians chose 30 every-day items that they know the least welloff households regularly buy to get an idea of how inflation is hitting these households. They trained algorithms to select the cheapest possible alternatives on the websites of Asda, the Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose, and tracked its price over the year. Despite Aldi and Lidl being among the cheapest supermarkets, they were not included as they do not allow online shopping.

The data found that pasta prices rose at the fastest rate, followed by crisps (17%), bread (16%), minced beef (16%) and rice (15%). Falls were seen in the price of potatoes (14%), cheese (7%), pizza (4%), chips (3%), sausages (3%) and apples (1%).

It comes as experts recently warned that the poorest households in the country are bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis. While inflation hit a 40-year high of 9% in April, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, those who are least well off spend a larger proportion of their income on the basics, such as energy bills.

As a result, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has suggested that inflation for the poorest households ran at 10.9% in the year to April.

The latest ONS analysis indicates that, at least for the 30 items it chose, inflation for the cheapest alternatives has been running similar to overall food and alcohol prices, increasing by between 6% and 7%.

But it does not take into account costs associated with buying a product. For instance, potato prices have dropped significantly over the last year, but many struggling households avoid potatoes, as they take longer to boil than alternatives and therefore use more expensive gas.

In March, the boss of Iceland said some food bank users were turning down potatoes and other root vegetables because they could not afford to boil them. The ONS acknowledged the research it has done is “highly experimental” and that because the analysis only focuses on lowestpriced goods, estimates are based on a very small number of price quotes. This means that the data is very sensitive to changes in just one item.

It also does not mitigate the concerns of food campaigner Jack Monroe who has criticised supermarkets for allegedly limiting access to their cheapest products in store.

■ Some 57% of households have had to make adjustments to cover the cost of essentials in the past month, Which? says – a big rise on 38% a year earlier. Measures include cutting back on essentials, borrowing from family and friends, taking out loans or credit cards, dipping into savings, or selling items. The survey found some people were skipping meals and cooking less often to cope. Around two million households have missed a housing, bill, credit card or loan payment in the past month, Which? estimated.

■ The RAC has warned drivers that “worse is sadly yet to come” on fuel prices, after the average cost of filling a typical family diesel car hit £100 for the first time. Figures from data firm Experian Catalist show the average price of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts was a record 182.7p on Saturday. Read more on this on Page 17.