Grocery inflation hits record 16.7%

Grocery price inflation has hit a record 16.7%, after a lull at the end of last year, the latest data from Kantar has revealed.

McKevitt said the dip in the grocery price inflation dip had proved to be only a short-lived respite for customer.

“Grocery price inflation jumped a staggering 2.3 percentage points this month to 16.7%, flying past the previous high we recorded in October 2022,” he said. “Households will now face an extra £788 on their annual shopping bills if they don’t change their behaviour to cut costs.”

He argued that competition among the grocers was “as intense as it’s ever been”, with retailers boosting their own-label ranges in particular, which had seen lines grow consistently over the past nine months.

“January was no exception as own-label lines grew by 9.3%, well ahead of branded alternatives which were up by just 1.0%,” he said.

Meanwhile the impact of dry January was seen in the no- and low sector, with no- and low-alcohol beer volumes up 3% on last year’s levels.

Aldi was the fastest growing grocer for the fourth month in a row, with sales 26.9% higher year-on-year, and a market share of 9.2%. Fellow discounter Lidl also saw sales up 24.1%, putting its market share at 7.1%. However the picture across the UK’s largest retailers was a bit more variable. Sainsbury’s saw its sales rise by 6.1%, just 0.1 percentage point higher than Asda and Tesco, giving it 15.4% of the market. Tesco remains the largest British retailer with a 27.5% market share while Asda holds 14.2%. And despite its sales falling by 1.9%, Morrisons’ performance continued to improve for the eleventh month in a row, taking its market share to 9.1%.