A report by consumer magazine Which? sees increases of up to 80 per cent on basic items.
A report into the cost of food staples across the UK paints a picture of price hikes on most products, with the cost of basic items in supermarkets rising by almost a fifth in 12 months.
The consumer magazine Which? looked at the prices for items including cheddar cheese, porridge oats and white bread across eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose – and found overall inflation on food and drinks coming in at 17.2 per cent in March, up from 16.5 per cent the previous month.
And it was some basic items seeing the biggest rises: porridge oats up 35.5 per cent across all supermarkets, cheddar cheese rising by 28.3 per cent, with white bread up 22.8 per cent. Even supermarkets’ own-label budget items weren’t immune from the big increases, an overall rise on these products of 24.8 per cent when compared with March 2022.
The report found that one particular item rose by an astonishing 80 per cent in 12 months, Asda's Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar 180g up to £1.80 from a price of £1 just 12 months ago.
Which? looked at more than 26,000 food and drink products across the eight supermarkets to produce its report, and it wants to see supermarkets doing more, calling on them to “provide transparent pricing” so their customers are able to see what products offer the “best value”.
Sue Davies, Head of Food Policy at Which?, said: “Our latest supermarket food and drink tracker paints a bleak picture for the millions of households already skipping meals of how inflation is impacting prices on supermarket shelves, with the poorest once again feeling the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis.
“While the whole food chain affects prices, supermarkets have the power to do more to support people who are struggling, including ensuring everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need. Supermarkets must also provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.”
Which? magazine launched in 1957 and since then has reported on consumer issues of the day, published product testing results, and carried out research and investigations.
