Anyone hoping for an easing of cost price increases will be disappointed by the record high inflation rates seen in this week’s Grocer 33.
Overall annual grocery price inflation hit 13.5%, topping the 13.3% recorded two weeks ago. There was also a sharp month-on-month increase, with prices standing 3.3% higher than mid-September.
Of the 33 items on our shopping list, 13 were over 20% more expensive than a year ago, and three were up by more than 40%. The large free-range eggs and Mr Kipling slices were both up 48% on last year while the watermelon & mango pieces cost 43% more.
Dairy continues to be particularly affected by inflation. The grated cheddar was 38% more expensive than last October, while butter has soared by 34%.
Just two lines were cheaper than this time in 2021. While the Doritos were down 7%, the Cadbury Freddo bars were 6% cheaper than last year.
Asda came in as the cheapest retailer for the third week running. At £61.67, it was £1.99 cheaper than closest rival Sainsbury’s. Asda offered the lowest price for 16 items, with nine exclusively cheapest, including the iceberg lettuce, Innocent juice and profiteroles.
Sainsbury’s was cheapest for a dozen lines and exclusively so on five, including the Twinings mint green teabags and Young’s Admiral’s Pie.
Tesco came in £3.76 more expensive than Asda at £65.43, though factoring in its Clubcard Prices would have closed the gap to just £1.06. It was cheapest for 13 lines and exclusively so for four.
Morrisons was also exclusively cheapest for four items but it came in £6.06 more expensive than Asda at £67.73.
Waitrose was a long way off the pace this week. It was £15.25 more expensive than Asda with a total of £76.92.
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