Grocery price inflation hits record 17% in February

Grocery price inflation rose to a record 17.1% in the four weeks to 19 February 2023, according to marketing data and analytics company Kantar. 

Based on the company’s monitoring of the take home grocery purchasing habits of 30,000 households across Great Britain, the analysis shows that grocery price inflation is the second most important financial issue for the public, just behind energy costs. 

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “If people don’t change how they buy their groceries, households are facing an £811 increase to their average annual bill.”

Rising inflation is particularly affecting markets such as milk, eggs and margarine while shortages are also happening in the fruit and vegetable aisles. To face these rising costs, shoppers and supermarkets are both developing strategies to adapt, such as swapping branded products with own label ranges, which have seen a 13.2% rise in sales this month. 

McKevitt explains: “Some supermarkets have been restricting the number of salad and vegetable packs customers can buy due to supply chain issues.

“Pack limits are unlikely to drastically affect consumers as we usually buy fruit and veg in smaller quantities. For instance, only 1% of tomato purchases last year involved more than three packs.”

Even with inflation, some supermarkets managed to increase their market share: Aldi remains the fastest growing grocer with sales up by 26.7% while Tesco edged slightly ahead in the battle between Britain’s biggest retailers, with sales up by 6.6%.  

Despite rising costs, Kantar revealed that consumers were still keen to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Steak sales in supermarkets rose by a quarter in the run up to 14 February. Sparkling wine sales also doubled, and an additional £5m was spent on boxed chocolates. 

McKevitt concluded: “With Valentine’s Day falling on a Tuesday and many feeling the pinch, some shoppers decided to show their love at home this February.”