An alternative measure of food inflation in an experiment by the Office of National Statistics has suggested value brands are not rising faster than others but some 'poorer' staples are seeing steep increases.
Prices of 30 basic food items were tracked between April 2021 and April 2022 using the lowest prices available across the month,
Across the 30 items there was considerable variation said the ONS, with the prices for six items falling over the year, but the prices of five items rising by 15% or more.
The difference between the lowest-cost version of an item and the next lowest-cost version of it is often large; for over two-thirds of the items monitored, the next item was at least 20% more expensive, the ONS reported.
With prices rising for many UK households, we’ve released experimental analysis showing how the lowest priced grocery items have changed in price between Apr 2021 & Apr 2022 https://t.co/MCnUQxYDQ8
Our research is based on supermarket website data for 30 basic grocery items???? pic.twitter.com/6sRfok9SBf
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 30, 2022
The @ONSfocus @ONS have released new data today tracking the price rises of the lowest-cost grocery items over the last year, and - backing up my own research and evidence from January - the hikes in the value brands and basics have been much higher than average inflation stats..
— Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) May 30, 2022
The items where the lowest prices rose at the fastest rate were pasta (up 50% between April 2021 and April 2022), crisps (17%), bread (16%), minced beef (16%) and rice (15%).
Price decreases were measured for potatoes (a 14% fall in price), cheese (7%), pizza (4%), chips (3%), sausages (3%) and apples (1%).
The ONS carried out the experiment after a high profile campaign from food poverty writer Jack Munroe, who has said the way prices are measured bears little relation to what people actually face.
Combining the lowest-cost items into an index shows that, overall, the prices of the cheapest items have risen since April 2021 in line with official measures of inflation, said the ONS, though Munroe in a tweet said the result vindicated her claim.
Looking across all items over time, there was some evidence of “shrinkflation” – the practice of keeping the price the same but reducing the size of the product, added the ONS.
J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) (J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY)) today pledged £500mln in price freezes and matching schemes to ward off cuts by its rivals and help its customers battle the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.
The supermarket chain said it plans to deliver that amount in savings to customers through its Price Lock scheme and price matching with Aldi through to March 2023.
In particular, Sainsbury’s said it will invest more money in its Price Lock campaign, which freezes the prices of 1,800 essential items for eight weeks or more.