Inflation on budget groceries outstrips other food and drink
Budget groceries at supermarkets are continuing to rise in price far more quickly than mid-range and premium food and drink.
Overall annual food inflation has fallen to 9.5%, and butters and spreads are cheaper now than a year ago. However, budget-range groceries - which are relied upon by millions of those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis - have soared by 20% in a year.
Which?'s ground-breaking food and drink inflation tracker analysed the prices of almost 27,000 food and drink products this month at eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
Here, we reveal what's going on beyond the headline averages, and give tips on how to save money on your groceries.
Which budget-range products had the biggest price increases?
The worst year-on-year price increase in our tracker for a budget item was Just Essentials pears (500g) at Asda, which went from 45p on average in the three months to the end of October last year to 90p on average in the same period this year.
Stamford Street Co. chocolate chip cake bars (x5) at Sainsbury's also rose significantly in price, going from an average 44p in the three months to the end of October last year to 75p in the same period this year - a 69% rise.
The overall rate of inflation fell slightly in October to 9.5% across the eight supermarkets.
Lidl had the highest inflation of any supermarket compared to the same month last year, at 11.6% -- overtaking Sainsbury's, which came out worst for inflation for the first time last month. Our inflation tracker includes regular discounts but not loyalty scheme offers, as they are not available to all shoppers.
How do budget groceries compare to premium ones?
Budget groceries are usually the cheapest available - but inflation on these is far higher than on other products.
Budget-range own-label items were 19.6% more expensive in October 2023 than in October 2022.
Meanwhile, branded groceries rose by 8.8% and premium own-label by 7%.
- Find out more: how to spend less at the supermarket
What's the good news?
For the first time since we launched our food and drink inflation tracker almost a year ago, we've found a price drop.
Butters and spreads were, on average, 2% cheaper in October than last year.
Anchor spreadable blend of butter and rapeseed oil (400g) at Waitrose and Asda was one of the spreads in our tracker that had dropped the most in price year on year. At Waitrose it fell from £4.35 in 2022 to £2.94 on average in the three months to the end of October in 2023; a 32.4% drop. At Asda it went from £4.16 on average to £2.88 across the same period, a 30.8% fall.
Annual inflation for the butters and spreads in our tracker peaked this time last year at 30.6%. That's the highest inflation we've seen across all grocery categories in our tracker since it launched.
Experts put last year's butter price rise down to spiralling fertiliser and feed prices, along with labour issues and energy costs. They predicted at the time that butter and spread inflation would likely start falling before that of other types of groceries, and it seems they were right.
- Find out more: which is the cheapest supermarket?
What more should supermarkets do?
We're calling on the big supermarkets that also operate convenience stores – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – to stock essential budget-range items in these smaller stores.
Our research has previously found these items are hardly ever stocked in smaller stores, even though two thirds of people with an income of £21,000 or less shop in a convenience store at least once a week.
This means people who have low mobility or no access to public or private transport could be forced to buy more expensive foods or go without.
In July, the Competition and Markets Authority also highlighted that consumers relying on convenience stores – which it agreed were more expensive – can't adequately benefit from competition to the full extent of those with access to large supermarket stores.
Some supermarkets have taken steps to help customers, but there hasn't been enough action from some of the UK’s biggest retailers.
- Do you want to see your supermarket take action to support you through the cost of living crisis? Sign our Affordable Food For All petition
