The prices of some everyday groceries have more than doubled over the past year, which consumer brand? has been found.
The company analyzed inflation on more than 25,000 food and drink products across eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
Which one? The average price of products in the three months till the end of February 2023 was seen to be higher than the same period last year.
The data showed that prices have increased the most at Lidl, followed by Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and then Ocado.
Which one? A range of everyday items – including milk, meat and fruit – were found on the grocery list of each supermarket with the highest inflation.
The company said that own-brand products were particularly hard hit and were also heavy on the lists.
The findings revealed that budget and own-brand items were subject to higher rates of inflation than premium and branded counterparts.
The annual inflation of popular food and drinks across eight retailers was found to be 16.5% in February. Inflation increased especially on vegetables, juice drinks, smoothies and cereals.
According to consumer brand food and drink inflation figures, the average price of Asda’s Free From Special Flakes (300g) rose by 62p to £1.43, a 129% increase.
Meanwhile Waitrose’s Essential Italian Mozzarella Strength 1 (150g dry) has risen by 80p to £1.77, an increase of 121%.
Morrisons Free From Corn Flakes (300g) also rose by 60p to £1.29 (115%).
Sainsbury’s Hubbard’s Foodstore Water (2L), Tesco Creamfields French Brie (200g) and Lidl’s Chene d’Argent Camembert (250g) have also more than doubled in price.
Sue Davis, which one? The head of food policy said: “Worryingly, our tracker shows that the price of some everyday essentials has more than doubled over the past year – with cheaper own-brand items hit particularly hard Hit.
“Supermarkets need to step up and ensure that everyone has easy access to a basic, affordable food range at one store, particularly in areas where people need it most.
“Retailers should also provide transparent pricing so that people can easily find which products offer the best value.”
A spokesperson for Lidl said: “We are extremely concerned that since the launch of this ‘tracker’ which? has consistently chosen to publish information that we and other retailers have confirmed to be false. It includes those products data that we don’t even sell.”
Whose statement? said that Lidl “failed to say what the inaccuracies are”.
An Asda spokesman said: “We are working hard to keep prices under control for customers despite global inflationary pressures and we remain the leading supermarket with the lowest prices – a position recognized by who? In their regular monthly basket comparison, which has ranked Asda as the cheapest supermarket for one large shop every month for the past three years.
“We recently announced that we will freeze the prices of over 500 popular branded and own-label products until the end of May, more than half of which are fresh meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable products.”
A Morrisons spokeswoman said: “This is an unprecedented period of inflation and we are working hard to keep prices low and competitive for our customers while maintaining high standards and availability across all our stores.
“We recently reduced the price of 1,000 popular products and are committed to doing everything we can to lower the cost of grocery shopping.”
An Ocado spokesperson said: “We continue to support our customers by investing in value across branded and own brand products. We also recently introduced the Ocado Price Promise to ensure customers are getting great value Used to be.”
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “While no retailer is safe from inflation, especially with most dairy products in this basket, we are working hard to keep prices as affordable as possible for our customers – and earlier have since committed to a record £100 million to reduce prices on daily staples.
Aldi declined to comment.
Sainsbury’s and Tesco have been contacted for comment.
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