Concerns about the cost of living crisis in the UK have been further elevated by a report suggesting food price rises could reach 15% this summer and that higher prices will linger well into next year.
Grocery trade body IGD said meat, cereals, dairy, fruit and vegetables are likely to be the worst affected.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine is affecting international grain supplies from both countries, products made from wheat such as bakery items, as well as those that are fed with grain, such as chicken and pork, are predicted to face the fastest price rises.
IGD said inflation could persist beyond next summer.
Britain’s food and consumer goods industry is “uniquely exposed to current pressures due to a reliance on food imports and the impacts of EU exit”, the report said.
James Walton, the chief economist at IGD, said: “From our research, we are unlikely to see the cost of living pressures easing soon. This will undoubtedly leave many households – and the businesses serving them – looking to the future with considerable anxiety. If average food bills go up 10.9% in a year, a family of four would need to find approximately £516 extra a year. We are already seeing households skipping meals – a clear indictor of food stress.
“We expect the mood of shoppers to remain bleak for the foreseeable future as they are impacted by rising inflation and a decline in real wages. Shoppers are likely to dial up money-saving tactics as far as possible.”