Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Price of a weekly shop rising at its fastest since 80s
The cost of food and drink has increased at its sharpest rate since 1980, with surges in the prices of many key items in the average household’s shopping basket.
The rise in the cost of groceries has been accelerated by the war in Ukraine, which has pushed up the cost of fertiliser and animal feed due to the impact on grain supply from the region.
Global meat prices have jumped as a result, while the knock-on effect on oil production in the region has also hit the price of sunflower oil and other fats.
Food and drink prices have also been affected by the recent weakness in the pound, which has caused made imported products and ingredients more expensive.
Karen Betts, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said: “Food and drink manufacturers continue to do everything they can to keep product prices down, but huge rises in ingredient, raw material, energy and other costs mean they have no choice but to pass some price rises on.”
Below are some examples of how the cost of food has risen in the past year.
The figures are based on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation and have been published by the Office for National Statistics.
In each case, the figure is the percentage change in the average price over the 12 months to September 2022.