Supermarket comparison site uncovers ‘significant’ food price rises

UK supermarkets have raised food prices by around 12% during the past year, according to findings by grocery comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk. In the same period, consumer price inflation has averaged only 2.5%.
mySupermarket compared the prices of 25 staple foods from October 2006 with the cost of the same items in October this year, and chose portion sizes that were enough to feed a family of four over the course of a week.

The comparison of staples such as sugar, bread and milk, showed that Tesco put up prices by an average of 16%, Asda 8.6% and Sainsbury‘s 11.8%. Almost all items were own brand products and the most similar products across the three supermarkets were chosen.
The news comes as government statistics show that basic foods such as butter, flour, pork and milk soared in price last month. Because of global wheat shortages, flour, bread and pasta prices have risen considerably. Even more noticeable was the increase in the price of dairy products, due partly to a bad summer in which UK farmers had to move cattle indoors and give them expensive winter feed.
Meanwhile, annual CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation for the UK is currently running at 1.8%, down from a high of 3.1% in March – far lower than the 12% price inflation identified by mySupermarket.
mySupermarket is an independent grocery price comparison site which shoppers can use to compare the price of supermarket products at Asda, Tesco, Ocado (Waitrose) and Sainsbury‘s.