The price of a Dolmio tomato sauce for lasagne has soared by 51% in the most eye-watering figure from this week’s Grocer 33 pricing survey.
Overall, our shopping basket was 11.6% pricier than last year and 2.8% more expensive than last month. Although still short of the 14.5% inflation figure for food and non-alcoholic beverages reported by the ONS this week, it gives a clear picture of the increasing difficulties faced by shoppers.
Five products had risen by at least 30%. The Vitalite spread was up by almost half (47%) year on year, while frozen lines such as McCain Potato Smiles (see right) and Aunt Bessie’s parsnips were up 32% and 30% respectively. There was also a 31% increase for the Mr Kipling French Fancies.
A further seven lines were up by more than 20%, although seven prices were cheaper than a year ago. The Pringles cost 15% less than last October, the pizza fell 9% and the sunflower seeds, Nairn’s oatcakes and Cadbury Freddos were all down 6%. The wholemeal rolls were also 3% cheaper and the Jazz apples cost 2% less.
Asda was the cheapest retailer at £54.71, although it was the supermarket with the highest level of inflation – up 14.5% on last year. Morrisons’ prices were 12.5% higher and Waitrose was up 12.2%, while there was a 9.5% increase for both Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Asda was £4.66 cheaper than Tesco, although Clubcard Prices would have reduced this gap to £2.91. Morrisons was just short of a fiver more expensive than Asda at £59.68, while Sainsbury’s was £5.24 more expensive at £59.95.
Waitrose, which this week confirmed plans to bring back free hot drinks for its loyalty scheme members, was considerably more expensive than its rivals at £71.89 – a difference of £17.18 compared to Asda.
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