Grocery price inflation in the UK has slowed to the lowest rate in more than a year, with the price of butter down 16p compared with this time last year.
Prices were 11% higher in the four weeks to 1 October, the lowest since July last year and down from 12.2% a month earlier, according to the market data firm Kantar.
“Grocery price inflation is still very high but shoppers will be relieved to see the rate continuing to fall,” Tom Steel, the strategic insight director at Kantar, said. “For the first time since last year, the prices of some staple foods are now dropping and that’s helping to bring down the wider inflation rate.
“Dairy was one of the categories where costs really shot up last autumn but the average price paid for a 250g pack of butter is now 16p less than 12 months ago.”
Prices were still rising fastest in areas such as eggs, sugar confectionery and frozen potato products, Kantar said.
A separate report from the British Retail Consortium last week showed that food prices dropped in September month on month for the first time in almost two years, while annual food inflation was 9.9%.
Price reductions for dairy, margarine, fish and vegetables and fierce supermarket competition helped to bring down the cost of an average food basket.
Shoppers were also spending more on promotions to help offset the impact of soaring prices, Kantar said. The proportion of groceries bought on deal increased to 26.5% in the latest 12 weeks, the highest level since June last year.
Steel said: “Supermarkets are looking at all the different ways they can deliver value at the tills and while the emphasis for some time has been on everyday low prices, the retailers are starting to get the deal stickers out again.”
Sales of branded products on promotion hit their highest rate since January, up 7.3% in the 12 weeks to 1 October, narrowing the gap with supermarkets’ own-label products, which increased by 10.1%.
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Sunnier weather meant sales of ice-cream, burgers and dips rose by 27%, 19% and 10% respectively in the four weeks to 1 October, while sales of suncare products more than doubled. The month was the joint warmest September on record.
Early sales of Christmas puddings were 14% lower and those of seasonal biscuits were down 29% year on year.
Kantar reported that overall take-home grocery sales in the four-week period rose by 9.1% compared with last year.
Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket, posted a 9.2% sales increase over the last 12 weeks and increased its market share to 27.4%. However, Lidl was the fastest-growing retailer with sales up 15.2%, the first time it has led the pack since April. It increased its market share to 7.6%. Aldi’s sales were up by 14.9%, with its total share of the market now at 9.9%. The discounters have done well during the cost of living crisis.
Amid reports that Waitrose could become the latest retailer to partner with Amazon for grocery delivery services, total online trips by shoppers increased year on year for the first time this month since December 2021, by 3.1%. Waitrose has a 4.6% share of the UK grocery market, with sales growth at 5.3% for the latest period.
