8.3% increase in food prices seen

Data from a recent BBC index has shown that since the start of this year food prices have increased by 8.3%. The biggest price increases were seen on meat and fish, which registered a rise of 22.9%. Fruit and vegetables also increased considerably in price, going up by 14.7%. Some individual food products were up by close to 50%.

Over the past year inflation on food is said to have gone up by over twice the level of inflation according to the British Retail Consortium. Inflation is expected to rise to 5% over the coming months. The rising level of inflation on food product has seen households’ monthly or weekly shopping bills rocket.

Many consumers have been turning to cheaper discount stores in order to reduce their shopping costs, and places such as Aldi, Lidl, and Netto have reported a rise in their sales activity over recent months, with some planning to expand their ranges and engage in more aggressive advertising to see the trend continue.

A number of officials have said that the rising cost of food as well as oil has resulted in the soaring level of inflation, which has in turn impacted on the ability of the Monetary Policy Committee to cut the base rate over the past five months.