Food prices rise 20% in two years

THE prices of hundreds of grocery items have risen by more than 20 per cent in two years.

Separately, stores have cut back on promotions and the availability of budget ranges, research found.

Consumer champion Which? analysed the prices of 21,000 groceries across eight supermarkets between December 2021 and February, comparing them with the same period two years earlier.

As many as 265 items shot up by more than a fifth over the last two years. Spiralling energy, fuel and ingredient costs, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, are largely to blame. Industry leaders are warning of food price inflation hitting 10 per cent and product shortages.

In the UK, some of the biggest increases found by Which? included a 21.4 per cent rise in the cost of Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes. Mushrooms were up 21.4 per cent and Cathedral City Extra Mature Cheddar by 21.1 per cent in some stores. Fizzy drinks had the biggest average price rises, at 5.9 per cent. This was followed by butters and spreads, energy drinks and milk.

Which? also found Nescafe Azera Americano decaf instant coffee was cut from 100g to 90g in Tesco in February, but it still cost £5.49.

The investigation also found that stores had limited the availability of own-label budget ranges.

And it found the number of promotions reduced across every one of the 20 categories of popular groceries. Sue Davies, of Which?, said supermarkets should ‘be more upfront about costs and provide really clear unit pricing so people can easily compare items’.

The British Retail Consortium said stores ‘will continue to do all they can to keep prices down’.