TRADITIONAL cheap foods such as spam, corned beef and tinned pasta have shot up in price by as much as 80 per cent in the past year.
In a new cost-of-living blow, a Sun on Sunday probe has found shoppers now face soaring prices even when picking up basic cupboard staples at supermarkets.
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A 400g tin of Heinz beef ravioli in tomato sauce was on sale for £2 at Waitrose last week.
Twelve months ago it cost just £1.10, according to price comparison site Priceable, meaning the cost has shot up by 80 per cent.
The price of the same tin at Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco has risen by 18 per cent, and it is now 14 per cent more expensive at Morrisons.
Value food spam — which has enjoyed something of a comeback in recent years — is also up in price.
At Waitrose, a 340g tin of Spam chopped pork and ham was priced £3.55 this week.
That’s up 42 per cent from the £2.50 the supermarket giant was charging last year.
In the past 12 months, the price has also shot up by 18 per cent at Asda, 17 per cent at Sainsbury’s and 15 per cent at Tesco.
Tinned meatballs are soaring in price as well. A 380g tin of Fray Bentos meatballs costs 95p this week in Asda, up from 85p last year — a rise of 12 per cent.
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The price has increased by 20 per cent at Sainsbury’s and by 14 per cent at Morrisons.
Pot Noodles are rocketing in cost, too. Last week, a chicken and mushroom King Pot was selling for £1.39 at Morrisons, up from £1 last year — a rise of 39 per cent.
In Asda it was £1.40 — up from £1.20 last year, an increase of 16 per cent.
But in 2022, Asda was charging just 70p for the same pot — meaning the price has doubled there in less than two years.
The cost of corned beef has now hit a record high.
A 340g tin of Princes corned beef was on sale at £3.25 in Asda last week.
That’s up 16 per cent from the £2.80 it was charging in 2022.
In Sainsbury’s and Tesco the tin was priced at £3.50 — £1 more expensive than the supermarkets were charging two years ago.
At Waitrose, the price has risen from £2.60 in 2022 to £3.55 now. At Morrison’s, it has jumped from £2.50 in 2021 to £3.59.
Consumer expert Jane Hawkes said: “Nothing is immune from greedflation.
“Even prices of basic essentials have been pushed up by the cost-of-living crisis.
“As a result, it is getting increasingly difficult for shoppers to cut everyday grocery costs — and this is a trend that unfortunately looks set to continue.”
Martyn James, from the Sun on Sunday’s Squeeze Team, added: “This shows it’s not just the big brands going up — supermarket staples are soaring in price too.
“Pretty much anything you buy at the supermarket has rocketed this year — even items that you might think would be immune to the cost-of-living crisis.”
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