
Grocery inflation soars to 18-month high as pressure grows on UK shoppers
It represented a rise from inflation of 4.7% a month earlier and marked the highest level since January 2024.
The data indicated that rising prices are set to add an average of £275 to shoppers' annual grocery spending.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: 'Just under two thirds of households say they are very concerned about the cost of their grocery shopping, and people are adapting their habits to avoid the full impact of price rises.
'Own label products, which are often cheaper, continue to be some of the big winners and, in fact, sales of these ranges are again outpacing brands, growing by 5.6% versus 4.9%.'
He added that shopping data also showed that consumers have been cooking simpler meals in recent months as part of efforts to stick to budgets.
The price increases come amid a backdrop of commodity price pressures and higher costs for retailers, after recent increases in National Insurance contributions and the national minimum wage.
Worldpanel data also showed that overall consumer spending across UK grocers rose by 4.6% over the 12 weeks to July 13.
Online retail specialist Ocado saw the fastest rise in sales over the period, with 11.7%.
It was closely followed by German discount chain Lidl, which saw sales rise 11.1%, to take its share of the UK grocery market to 8.3%, moving it close to the size of rival Morrisons.
Elsewhere, the UK's largest supermarket chain Tesco increased its share of the market further after growing sales by 7.1%.
Asda and the Co-op were among the weaker performers, with sales declines of 3% and 3.7% respectively over the quarter.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mirror
3 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Hugo Ekitike's view on Liverpool role speaks volumes amid Alexander Isak transfer twist
Liverpool have just spent nearly £80m to sign Hugo Ekitike but already they've turned their attention to another striker in Alexander Isak, which could lead to some shuffling Liverpool new boy Hugo Ekitike insists he will "do what the coach asks me to do" as he maintained his versatility is one of his key attributes amid speculation that Alexander Isak could soon be joining him at Anfield. The Frenchman has just moved to the Reds from Frankfurt, joining for £79million after enjoying a breakthrough season with the German club. Ekitike was bought in and tipped to lead the line for Arne Slot's side as they look to retain their Premier League crown. However the situation surrounding Isak at Newcastle looks to have changed and it could open the door for Liverpool to break the British-transfer record for the second time in one summer. The Swede has made it clear he wants to explore his options away from St James' Park. A move to Liverpool is on his radar and that could leave Slot's new £79m signing, who was bought in to lead the line, having to move to accommodate Isak. However that appears to be something Ekitike is more than willing to do. He told the club's website: "I mean, I do what the coach asks me to do, but yeah, I like to do everything. I can't define myself only as a striker [who likes] to finish: I like to play, I like to be in the game, in the collective part of play [and] create also. So, I can do both – I can play alone and I like to play also with another striker and I think that's what makes me versatile, but you know now in this football you need to adapt." For the early part of last season Ekitike played in the Frankfurt attack with Omar Marmoush, who is now at Manchester City. It may be a case of the Frenchman either playing in tandem with Isak or being pushed out wide to allow the Swede to play centrally. Liverpool are due to bank £65m from the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, which leaves them light of a player in attack, and now an official approach is now expected. Newcastle have made it clear they want to keep their best players, but if Isak does push for the exit door it could force the owners into making a decision. If Liverpool's offer approaches the £150m valuation they have for the player then the Magpies may be tempted to sell up and reinvest as they draw up a list of targets. Eddie Howe has confirmed that Isak will not be joining Newcastle on their pre-season tour amid all the speculation. The Magpies boss said: "The club will make the right decision with all the information that it has, and ultimately to try and move the club forward in whatever way that is. Then it's up to us to make good decisions the other way and try and improve the squad as best we can. That's what we're trying to do, regardless of Alex's situation."


Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
Most of Rhine river back to normal levels after rain
HAMBURG, July 28 (Reuters) - Rain has raised water levels on the river Rhine in Germany, with much of the river around normal levels, allowing cargo vessels to sail with full loads, commodity traders said on Monday. Dry weather and a heatwave in June and July meant the river became too shallow for vessels to sail fully loaded. Ship operators imposed surcharges on freight rates to compensate for vessels sailing partly empty, increasing costs for cargo owners. Shallow water continues to hinder shipping on some northern river sections, including around Duisburg and Cologne. But the picture has improved and vessels are able to sail about 70% full in Cologne and 90% full in Duisburg. More rain is forecast in the coming days, which traders said could raise water levels enough to allow ships to sail fully loaded later this week. The impact of a recent heatwave had been stronger than expected, drying fields that drain into smaller streams and rivers feeding into the Rhine. The Rhine is an important shipping route for commodities such as grains, minerals, ores, chemicals, coal and oil products, including heating oil. German companies faced supply bottlenecks and production problems in summer 2022 after a drought led to unusually low water levels on the river.


Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
Why couldn't Britain have dealt with the EU like Trump?
The more you look at the trade deal negotiated between the US and the EU, the more you want to ask: why couldn't Britain have dealt with the EU like that? Why has every UK Prime Minister since Theresa May acted so feebly in the face of the EU's tactics and ended up getting such a poor deal out of the EU? Trump has get pretty much everything he wanted. Goods imported into the US from the EU will in future be subject to tariffs of 15 per cent – half the rate that Trump had threatened but far higher than existed prior to 'Liberation Day' on 2 April. What has Ursula von der Leyen got in return? Nothing at all, other than the punitive tariffs being dropped. She has agreed to lowering tariffs on imports from the EU, in some cases to zero. She has also agreed to the EU buying more products from the US, including liquified natural gas (LNG), making a mockery of the EU's net-zero policy. Like Britain, the EU has wound down its fossil fuel industry on the pretext that it is yesterday's energy and we won't need it for much longer as we transition to clean renewables – but then it commits itself to buying increased quantities of LNG from the US. Say what you like about Trump, but it is easy to argue that he has proven a far stronger defender of his country's interests than Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer. Britain is nearly as important a destination for EU exports as the US: in 2024, 21 per cent of its exports went to the US and 14 per cent to Britain. Yet no Prime Minister has properly used this leverage to give Britain any advantage. May got nowhere in the end but would have committed Britain to becoming a rule-taker from the EU. Johnson agreed to place an internal UK border down the Irish Sea. Sunak did a little better in trying to resolve this, but then Starmer has put us back closer to where May wanted to take us: agreeing to EU rules on plant and animal products while having no say in the making of those rules. Why did UK Brexit negotiators never threaten punitive tariffs on German cars and French wine? Instead – and in spite of Theresa May's mantra of 'no deal is better than a bad deal' – we acted as if no deal was never an option. Simultaneously, we treated Trump – whose first presidential term lasted throughout the Brexit negotiations – as a kind of oaf who was destroying America's reputation. Had our leaders emulated him rather than scorned him we would be in a lot better position now. It all starts to look a bit different, however, if you look at Trump's trade negotiations from the point of view of consumers rather than producers and ask instead: has Trump really scored such a victory? If you are an American motorist who fancies a new car, your choice has just narrowed, and many of the options available have just increased in price. It is not just consumers, either, who may feel this is not quite the victory for the US it might look like on the surface. Most manufacturers rely on international supply chains. While tariffs may help snuff out some of their competition, they will in future face higher prices of raw materials and components. This does not appear to feature all that much in Trump's mercantilist mind. To him – and not just him, because many world leaders seem to think the same – exporting stuff is a strength and importing stuff a weakness. When you think of things that way, the US has been cheated by the lopsided tariffs which have long existed between the US and the rest of the world. Yet the fact remains that the US has done extremely well out of its low import tariffs. Its economy has grown far faster than those of its more protectionist rivals. So yes, it is easy to admire Trump's negotiating tactics. The whirlwind of the past few months, with threats followed by negotiations and flattery, has been a wonder to watch. It is sad that UK leaders have lacked the courage to act in such a brazen fashion towards the EU. Yet that doesn't mean that the US will end up being the big winner from higher import tariffs. On the contrary, overall the US economy is likely to grow less strongly as a result.