Shoppers were left blindsided in supermarket aisles this year. Faced with higher prices, smaller pack sizes, discontinued lines and even reformulations of their favourite recipes, at best they’ve been bemused. At worst, they’ve been “absolutely raging”, as one social media user put it.

In August, as price inflation rose to 5.1% in food and non-alcoholic drink – the highest rate since January 2024 and 1.3 percentage points ahead of overall UK inflation – cries of “shameful,” “greedy” and “unforgiveable” were lobbed at supermarkets and suppliers.

“Why is the cost of food so high?”

“How am I supposed to feed my family?”

“What are they thinking?”