Everyday food prices soar as supermarket inflation hits 17.2%

Prices for food staples such as cheddar cheese, white bread and porridge oats have increased by up to 80% new research has revealed.

The latest study by Which? analysed inflation on more than 26,000 food and drink products at eight major supermarkets, including Tesco, Lidl and Aldi in March to see how everyday product prices are being affected.

Which? put together a basket of food including pork sausages, sliced white bread and porridge oats to find out which of these everyday items have seen the biggest percentage price hikes and work out average prices across the eight supermarkets.

According to the study, porridge oats now cost 35.5% more than in March 2022, the highest average annual inflation of the shopping basket. Semi-skimmed milk and cheddar cheese followed closely behind at 33.6% and 28.3% respectively.

SPECIFIC PRODUCTS

A loaf of large sliced white bread saw an increase of 22.8%, while broccoli (15.4%) and chicken breasts (14.3%) also saw significant increases.

The averages mask some larger increases in specific products, Which? stressed.

Using the example of cheddar cheese, which increased by an average of 28.3% across all the supermarkets in the three months of March 2023, the notable example in their basket was the Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar 180g at Asda, which went from £1 to £1.80 – an increase of 80% year-on-year.

When they looked at large white sliced bread, the found average increases of 22.8%, however The Bakery at Asda Soft White Medium Sliced Bread 800g went from 56p to 94p – an increase of 67%.

Inflation on pork sausages was 26.8% on average, but the Just Essentials by Asda 8 Pork Sausages 454g went from 81p to £1.40, a 73.5% increase; while the Tesco value version, Woodside Farms 8 Pork Sausages 454g went from 80p to £1.39, an increase of 73.3%.

The Which? analysis covered the average price of the products in the three months to the end of March 2023, compared to the same period last year.