UK grocery inflation eases slightly to 17.3% in April -Kantar

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) – British grocery inflation edged decrease in April however remained close to report highs, business information confirmed on Tuesday, offering little reduction for shoppers being hammered by a cost-of-living disaster.

Market researcher Kantar mentioned grocery inflation was 17.3% within the 4 weeks to April 16, down from the report 17.5% in its March information set.

It mentioned April noticed a tenth month in a row of double digit grocery worth inflation, with costs rising quickest in markets corresponding to eggs, milk and cheese.

“The newest drop in grocery worth inflation will probably be welcome information for customers but it surely’s too early to name the highest,” Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and client perception, mentioned.

“We’ve been right here earlier than when the speed fell on the finish of 2022, just for it to rise once more over the primary quarter of this yr,” he mentioned.

The Kantar information for April gives the hottest snapshot of UK grocery inflation.

Official UK information printed final week confirmed total client worth inflation fell to 10.1% in March. Nevertheless, costs of meals and non-alcoholic drinks have been 19.1% greater in March than a yr earlier, the largest such rise since August 1977.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents the foremost grocery store teams, has mentioned it expects client meals costs to begin coming down over the following few months, whereas the Financial institution of England has forecast total inflation will drop to beneath 4% by the tip of the yr.

Kantar mentioned UK grocery gross sales rose 8.1% over the 4 week interval year-on-year.

It mentioned Britons have been persevering with to show to supermarkets’ personal label strains, that are normally cheaper than branded merchandise, to assist handle spending.

Personal-label gross sales have been up 13.5% year-on-year with the very least expensive worth own-label strains up 46%, whereas branded gross sales have been up 4.4%.

Discounters Aldi and Lidl each hit report market shares over the 12 weeks to April 16, at 10.1% and seven.6% respectively.

Lidl was the quickest rising grocer with gross sales up 25.1%, whereas Aldi’s rose 25.0%.

“Customers are persevering with to buy round, visiting not less than three main retailers each month on common. The discounters have been huge beneficiaries of this,” added McKevitt.

UK grocers’ market share and gross sales development (%)

Source: Kantar

Reporting by James Davey; enhancing by Jonathan Oatis

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