Market research firm Kantar reported that grocery prices surged by 17.5% over the last year, inflicting yet more pain on households who are battling a cost-of-living crisis.
The figures for the 12 weeks ending 19 March 2023 will have driven up average household bills by £837 unless shoppers shift their spending to cheaper outlets, or simply buy less.
Kantar said prices were rising fastest in markets such as eggs, milk and cheese.
Volumes of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers bought at independents rose 32%, 26% and 21% respectively last month, amid concerns about product shortages.
Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, said: “It’s more bad news for the British public, who are experiencing the ninth month of double-digit grocery price inflation.”
Kantar also noted that customers are shopping around for the best value, visiting three or more of the top 10 retailers each month. Footfall was up in every single grocer this month.
McKevitt added: “The supermarkets are also tackling grocery price inflation, battling it out to demonstrate value and get customers through their doors. This is a fiercely competitive sector and if people don’t like the prices in one store they will go elsewhere, with consumers visiting three or more of the top 10 retailers in any given month on average.”
Across the retailers, Lidl was the fastest growing supermarket as its sales rose by 25.8%. It achieved a market share of 7.4%. Aldi secured a new record market share this month at 9.9%, driven by a 25.4% increase in its sales.
Morrisons saw a return to growth with sales rising by 0.1%, giving it an 8.8% market share. Waitrose also had a positive period, pushing up sales by 2.1% to deliver the fastest rate of growth for the John Lewis Partnership-owned supermarket since September 2021.
Asda’s sales increased by 7.3%, just ahead of both Tesco and Sainsbury’s on 6.9%. Tesco remains Britain’s largest grocer with a 26.9% share of the market, while Sainsbury’s is on 14.8% and Asda 14.3%.
Frozen specialist Iceland performed strongly, increasing its market share to 2.3%, up 0.1 percentage point as sales rose by 9.6%. Convenience retailer Co-op now has a 5.7% share and Ocado’s market share remained at 1.8%.