How food prices have increased over past year
THE cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, with rate of inflation currently at a 40-year high.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the consumer prices index (CPI) rose from 9% in April to 9.1% in May this year – a level unseen since February 1982, amid record prices for petrol and the soaring cost of food.
Meanwhile, average pay rises are failing to match the rise in the cost of living and for the majority of workers, higher price inflation is now eroding the real value of what they earn.
In May, we spent a day speaking to a range of shoppers outside a Tesco Express store in Canton, Cardiff, about how their shopping habits had been affected by the cost of living.
One mum-of-three we spoke to estimated her grocery shop had increased “at least £20-£30 a week”, and she said she had started to buy more value brands.
In June 2021, we did a weekly shop of 26 products – buying only Tesco’s own-brand food and household goods – which cost us £47.28 in total.
Back then, inflation stood at 2.5% – almost four times less than the current rate.
So how do the prices for the exact same shopping list compare a year on in June 2022?
Twelve months on, the overall price had increased by £4.12 to £51.40 – a percentage increase of about 8.7%.
Sixteen products increased in price, one decreased and nine remained the same.
From our snapshot of goods, there do not seem to be any patterns in terms of how different products have been affected – for example, fruit and veg fell into all three categories, as well as cupboard staples like rice, pasta and teabags.
The biggest price rise by far was a whole medium chicken, which went up by £1.30.
Other notable increases included a three-pack of peppers (up by 35p), a bottle of milk (up by 35p), a bag of frozen chips (up by 27p), a box of fish fingers (up by 25p), a bag of pasta (up by 25p), a box of cornflakes (up by 20p) and a bag of basmati rice (up by 20p).
A head of broccoli, a punnet of grapes and a tin of baked beans all went up by 10p – a smaller rise, though still noticeable.
A box of teabags was the only
item to go down, by 10p.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “With household budgets under increasing pressure, we are absolutely committed to helping our customers by keeping a laser focus on the cost of the weekly shop.
“We have significantly increased the number of value lines we
offer and whether it’s pricematching basics to Aldi prices, promising low everyday prices on household staples, or offering exclusive deals and rewards through thousands of Clubcard Prices – we’re more committed than ever to providing our customers with great value.”