Supermarket prices hit FOUR year high
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Supermarket prices are rising at the fastest rate for four years putting the squeeze on family budgets.
Analysis of 62,000 products has found food inflation leapt to 2.4% this month and is at its highest level since October 2013.
Experts say the rise from 1.6% in July is a sign that more increases are on the way.
According to figures from trade magazine The Grocer, Tesco shoppers have been the hardest hit with prices up 3.4% year-on-year, followed by Asda where they’re up by 2.4%.
And at Sainsbury’s prices rose by 1.6% at while at Morrisons they were up by 1.5% year-on-year.
Across the board meat, fish and poultry showed the biggest increases, up by 4.65% and dairy products were hit with a 2.6% price rise.
But families will also be feeling the pinch across the treats aisles as biscuits, sweets and snacks rose by 3.5% while ready meals were 2.9% dearer than last year.
Only soft drinks were light on wallets with prices down by 1.3%, according to the Grocer Price Index (GPI).
The Grocer said: “Overall prices were up 0.5% on a month-by-month basis, suggesting the GPI is likely to continue to rise through the rest of 2017.”
How much food staples have risen in a year Source: The Grocer
And there’s bad news for banana fans as the lunchbox staple is also becoming more expensive.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s have become the latest supermarkets to push up the price by 4p to 76p a kilo.
The hike comes after Asda broke rank and raised its bananas by 5.5% from 72p to 76p a kilo last week.
Bananas have been a key battleground for supermarkets for more than two years when a cut-throat price war saw the cost tumble to just 68p a kilo.
(Image: Getty)
But in November last year Asda, Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Aldi increased their prices to 72p per kilo and Tesco and Waitrose followed in December.
Waitrose hiked its price up from 72p to 75p a kilo in March but other chains held off following suit until now.
A weaker pound as well as poor weather and flooding in key growing areas such as Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic have hit banana crops with prices up 17.7% earlier this year.
Tesco said it would “only consider price rises when absolutely necessary”.
And Sainsbury’s, which has also raised the price of its five pack bananas by 5p to 85p said the cost of its products was “determined by a number of factors and prices can fluctuate both up and down”.