Coffee price increase amongst factors driving up food inflation.
Supermarket prices in the UK continue their upward trajectory with the latest figures showing food inflation now at 12.4 per cent, up from 11.6 per cent in October: the cost of coffee, meat, eggs and dairy climbing particularly sharply.
The news on non-foodstuffs isn’t any better, and those planning to splash out over the festive season will see their Christmas gifting also suffering a price hike as factors such as the war in Ukraine drive up fuel and energy costs, which continue to hit prices in supermarkets and shops. With “sports and recreation equipment seeing particularly high increases”, Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive Officer at the British Retail Consortium, BRC, is expecting “Christmas cheer to be dampened.”
She said: “Food prices have continued to soar, especially for meat, eggs and dairy, which have been hit by rocketing energy costs and rising costs of animal feed and transport. Coffee also shot up as high input costs filtered through to price tags.”
The BRC is seeing signs that the pressures on costs may ease next year, but currently food prices are rising at their fastest rate for 45 years.
