Grocery price inflation surges to 4.1%

Grocery price inflation has surged to 4.1%, the highest point since February last year, according to latest data.

The figure is a marked rise from last month’s 3.8%, and takes the UK into “new territory”, analysts Kantar said.

Prices are rising fastest in markets such as chocolate confectionery, suncare, and butters and spreads, and are falling fastest in dog food, cat food and household paper products.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “This latest jump in grocery price inflation takes us into new territory for 2025.

“Households have been adapting their buying habits to manage budgets for some time, but we typically see changes in behaviour once inflation tips beyond the 3% to 4% point as people notice the impact on their wallets more.

“Own-label lines are ones to watch, with premium own-label in particular being the fastest-growing part of the market since September 2023.”

Kantar said customers’ spending on deals was up by 5.1% on May last year as prices rise.

However, May’s hot weather also saw Britons sending sales of chilled burgers up 27%, potato salad up 32%, and coleslaw and prepared salads up by 19% each.

Sales of sun cream were up 36%.

Meanwhile, latest shopping basket figures suggest consumers are increasingly shaping their diets around health, wellbeing and exercise, with sales of sports nutrition products surging by 45% over the past five months compared with the same period last year.

Ocado marked a full year as Britain’s fastest-growing grocer, with sales climbing by 14.9%.

Aldi and Lidl achieved their strongest combined growth since January 2024 at 8.4%, with Lidl reaching a new market share high of 8.1% with sales up by 10.9% and Aldi’s hold of the market reaching a record high at 11.1% with sales rising by 6.7%.

Tesco boosted its sales by 5.9% to increase its share to 28% of the market, while sales growth at Sainsbury’s accelerated by 4.7% to give it a 15.1% share.

Despite high-profile cybersecurity incidents recently, spending on groceries at Marks & Spencer rose by 12.3%, while Co-op increased sales by 0.6% to take 5.3% of the market.