Food prices have hit a new record high, forcing shoppers to turn to own-label products in a bid to save cash. 

man shopping in supermarket with phone

August saw inflation at its steepest since Kantar started collecting data in 2008

Grocery prices increased 11.6% in the four weeks to August 7, according to new figures from Kantar. It marks the steepest inflation rate recorded by Kantar since it began collating such data back in 2008. 

It means the annual grocery bill for the average household has risen £533 – or £10.25 per week – compared with last year. 

Kantar said that cash-conscious shoppers were increasingly trading down to retailers’ own-brand ranges as a way of managing their budgets. 

Sales of own-label ranges rose 7.3% to account for 51.6% of all grocery spend – the biggest share ever recorded by Kantar. 

Sales of entry-level own-label products jumped 19.7% in the four-week period. 

“It’s not surprising that we’re seeing shoppers make lifestyle changes to deal with the extra demands on their household budgets,” Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said. 

“Over the past month we’ve really seen retailers expand and advertise their own value ranges across the store to reflect demand. Consumers are welcoming the different choices and options being made available to them on the shelves, with sales of own-label value products increasing by 19.7% this month. As an example, Asda’s Just Essentials line, which launched this summer, is already in 33% of its customers’ baskets.” 

Supermarket sales advanced 2.2% during the broader 12-week period to August 7, as discount duo Lidl and Aldi maintained their positions as the fastest-growing grocers.

 

Lidl clocked up a 17.9% increase in sales, while Aldi registered 14.4% growth. 

The sales gains took Aldi’s market share to 9.1%, just 0.2 percentage points behind Morrisons after the Bradford-based grocer suffered a 4.9% drop in sales.

Morrisons’ market share had stood at 10% just a year ago, some 1.8 percentage points ahead of Aldi. 

Its Yorkshire neighbour Asda edged back into growth, recording a 0.2% uptick, while market leader Tesco grew sales 1% and Sainsbury’s suffered a 0.1% decline during the 12-week period.    

Pureplay grocer Ocado grew sales 6.2%, but Kantar said online grocery penetration dropped to 11.8% during the period – the first time ecommerce share has fallen below 12% since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020. 

Topics