Prices in supermarkets soared to their highest levels for 15 months, with hikes rising fastest for chocolate, butters & spreads and suncare, according to the latest data out this morning.
Kantar’s monthly grocery sales figures also revealed M&S maintained strong growth levels despite being hit by a high-profile cybersecurity incident. The retailer generated a 12.3% rise in spending on groceries in the 12 weeks to 18 May 2025.
However, growth at Co-op, which also suffered a cyberattack, was slower at just 0.6%.
Total take-home grocery sales across all the supermarkets increased by 4.4% year on year in the four weeks to 18 May, Kantar reported.
In the same period, grocery price inflation registered a marked rise of 4.1%, which is the highest level since February 2024.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said the jump took the sector into new territory for 2025 and warned households typically started to change shopping habits when inflation tipped past 4%.
“Own-label lines are ones to watch, with premium own label, in particular, being the fastest-growing part of the market since September 2023,” he added.
As consumers feel the pinch, many continue to seek out promotions to get the best value. “The growth of spending on deals has carried on this month, increasing by 5.1% versus May last year,” McKevitt said. “Trimming prices remains the most popular way for retailers to draw in customers, with 80% of promotional spending this period down to straightforward price cuts.”
Ocado marked a full year as Britain’s fastest-growing grocer, having held the position since June 2024. Over the 12-week period, sales at the online retailer climbed by 14.9%.
The discounters also performed strongly, achieving their best combined growth since January 2024 at 8.4%. Lidl reached a new market share high of 8.1%, with sales up by 10.9% as it saw 419,000 extra shoppers come through its doors year on year – the most of any retailer.
Aldi’s hold of the market reached a record high at 11.1%, with sales rising by 6.7%, its fastest growth rate since the start of last year.
Tesco boosted sales by 5.9% to increase its share by 0.4 percentage points. Britain’s largest grocer now has 28% of the market. Sales growth at Sainsbury’s accelerated by 4.7%, giving it a 15.1% share.
Sales at Morrisons nudged up by 1.1% and it now holds 8.4% of the market. After Asda’s best performance since May last year, its share stands at 12.1%, but sales still fell 3.2%.
Waitrose maintained a 4.6% share as sales grew by 4%. Spending through the tills at Iceland went up by 1.9%, bringing the frozen food specialist’s portion of the market to 2.2%.
Kantar also highlighted the boost to supermarkets from the hottest-ever start to May on record.
“We’ve been firing up the barbecues a bit earlier than last year, with chilled burgers flying off the shelves and sales growing by 27%,” McKevitt said. “Shoppers didn’t forget the all-important sides, as sales of potato salad rocketed by 32% and coleslaw and prepared salads by 19% each. As the mercury rose, suncream sales also shot up by 36% as Brits made the most of the spring sun.”
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