Food price inflation has risen again, up 17.1% in the four weeks to 19 February 2023, the highest level ever recorded by Kantar, with households facing an £811 increase to their average annual bill if they buy the same items.
But it didn’t stop consumers spending more on their loved ones on Valentine’s Day, with steak sales up a quarter in the run up to 14 February, while sparkling wine sales doubled and an additional £5mln was spent on boxed chocolates.
Fraser McKevitt, head of Retail and Consumer Insight, Worldpanel Division, UK at Kantar, said: “Shoppers have been facing sustained price rises for some time now and this February marks a full year since monthly grocery inflation climbed above 4%. This is having a big impact on people’s lives.”
“Our latest research shows that grocery price inflation is the second most important financial issue for the public behind energy costs, with two-thirds of people concerned by food and drink prices, above public sector strikes and climate change.”
Aldi remains the fastest growing grocer, pushing its market share to a new record high of 9.4%, with sales rising 26.7%, closely followed by Lidl which increased sales by 25.4%, taking its market share to 7.1%.
Source: Kantar
Frozen food specialist Iceland also won share, taking 2.4% of market sales, up from 2.3% last year as spending through its tills increased by 10.8%.
Ocado put in a strong performance, bucking the overall trend in online sales. While online fell by 0.9% over the 12 weeks, the digital specialist grew sales by 11.3% to achieve its largest ever market share of 1.9%.
Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) edged slightly ahead in the battle between Britain’s biggest retailers, with sales up by 6.6%. J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) and Asda were just behind with sales rising by 6.2% and 5.9% respectively. Morrisons' sales decline of 0.9% was its best performance since May 2021.
Waitrose returned to growth, nudging up sales by 0.7%. It has a market share of 4.7%. Convenience retailer Co-op increased sales by 3.4% while independents and symbols were up by 1.8%.