SHOPPERS HIT BY MULTI-BUY ‘DEAL-FLATION’

SHOPPERS looking for bargains are warned to watch out for ‘dealflation’ as stores hike multi-buy food offer prices by 20 per cent, writes Daniel Jones.

Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose have bumped up the cost of deals by up to double the 9.9 per cent inflation rate.

‘Deal-flation’ follows ‘shrinkflation’, where prices remain the same but portion sizes are cut.

Rebecca McDonald, of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation anti-poverty charity, said: ‘Food prices are rising faster than inflation, with living costs overwhelming families.’

Marks & Spencer has quietly raised its heavily promoted meat and fish ‘three for £10’ offer to ‘three for £12’.

Morrisons’ ‘three for £10’ has changed to ‘two for £8’. Like the M&S deal, it represents a 20 per cent increase from £3.33 per item to £4.

Tesco Finest’s dinner for two has gone up from £10 to £12.

Retail expert Sarah Coles, from financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘These are the promotions supermarkets use to get people in store – so putting their price up shows that supermarkets really have reached the pinch point. Shelf prices have risen, so shoppers still save using offer prices – but the offers now cost more. Cost-of-living rises are affecting middle-earners as well now.’

Waitrose and Co-op have also hiked deal prices, but by less than 20 per cent.

Waitrose’s ‘three for £10’ became ‘two for £7.50’ last month, meaning an 11 per cent an item rise from £3.33 to £3.75. Co-op’s meat offer is now ‘two for £8’, up 14 per cent on the previous ‘two for £7’.

M&S said: ‘We are competitive on price without compromising quality.’ Morrisons said: ‘There is unprecedented inflation. We work hard to keep prices down.’

Tesco said: ‘Our dinner for two is great value. We are committed to focusing on the cost of the weekly shop.’

Waitrose said: ‘The previous multi-buy offer had been in place for years. Customers can now benefit from savings while buying fewer items.’

Asda has not changed the price of its ‘two for £7’ offer. Sainsbury’s said it stopped multi-buy offers several years ago. Lidl and Aldi do not have meat or meal deals.