Grocery in UK costlier than ever as 'cost of living' crisis deepens

London: The grocery inflation rate in the United Kingdom reached a new record high of 17.1%, said reports based on industry data. According to Kantar Worldpanel, the cost of a family’s typical buying basket could increase by £811 per year as a result of the increase over the past 12 months. It was anticipated that a slowdown in grocery prices during the month of December would signal a turning point in that aspect of the cost of living problem. The big four chains are struggling to hold onto market share in the face of the threat posed by discounters and other less expensive competitors, but Kantar later disclosed that temporary Christmas discounts had been largely to blame. According to its most recent report, Aldi, Lidl, and Iceland increased their market shares at the expense of all of the big retailers during the 12-week period ending on February 19, while Morrisons was the only exception. According to Kantar, the allure of less expensive own-label food helped Aldi set a new market share of 9.4% during that time. Given the change in consumer behaviour brought on by the broader cost of living crisis, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons have increased their own value offerings. Food prices, along with those of numerous other goods used in daily life, have increased primarily as a result of the rise in energy costs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war is also to blame for the sharp increase in the price of many commodities, including wheat. Food and other grocery expenses have been a significant reason for the CPI measure’s stubborn persistence above 10%, even though the overall rate of inflation has decreased from its 11.1% peak seen in October of last year. A number of producers, including Unilever, the company behind Marmite and Magnum ice cream, have issued warnings that price increases will not stop soon. Producers, who are merely one link in a convoluted supply chain, continue to struggle with rising energy prices and other expenses. It is also unknown whether the scarcity of salad items, which has caused the majority of supermarkets to restrict sales, will pose a serious inflationary challenge in the future. Although the problem occurred outside of Kantar’s reporting window, the company said it anticipated disclosing a hit when its upcoming report was released. “Shoppers have been dealing with sustained price increases for some time now, and this February represents a full year since monthly grocery inflation climbed above 4%,” said Fraser McKevitt, the company’s head of retail and consumer insight. “This is significantly affecting people’s livelihoods,” he said. He added that according to their most recent study, food and drink prices are the second most significant financial concern for the public after energy costs, worrying two-thirds of people more than public sector strikes and climate change. A quarter of people report money difficulties, compared to one in five at this time last year. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.