Supermarket shoppers already facing a cost-of-living crunch are paying up to 20 per cent more for cupboard staples including butter, milk and spaghetti, than they were last year, new figures have today revealed.
With Britons already facing a double whammy of high fuel and rising energy prices, analysis by MailOnline has revealed how a four-pint milk carton now costs, on average, 34p more than it did 12 months ago.
The cost of an average 500g pack of own-brand spaghetti has also rocketed up by 33p – from 52p to 85p – since August last year, while a 500g pack of Lurpak is now 63p more expensive – up from £3.58 last year to £4.21 this year.
Supermarkets are also facing a backlash from customers over the cost of baked bean. An average six-pack of Heinz baked beans now costs as much as £5 in some stores. A single 450g can will now, on average, set shoppers back £1.20 – up more than 37p in 12 months.
Some are even pricing the popular cupboard staple at £1.45 per 415g can – sparking fury from customers who have accused shops of ‘taking the p**’. It comes after Tesco temporarily stopped stocking Heinz products following a pricing row with the US-food firm.
Meanwhile, MailOnline’s analysis also shows how an average 20 item shopping basket now costs £5.20 more than it did last year – with shoppers in Tesco and Morrisons seeing some of the biggest rises.
It comes as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – the trade association for supermarkets and retail businesses – today released its own figures showing how prices have risen over the last year.
Shop price annual inflation surged to 5.1 per cent, up from 4.4 per cent in July, marking a new record since the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ index started in 2005.
Food prices leapt by 9.3 per cent after a 7.0 per cent increase in July, driven by increases in products such as milk, margarine and crisps, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushing up the costs of animal feed, fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils, the BRC said.
Meanwhile, Britons are already bracing for sky-high energy bills this winter, when the price cap on energy costs for an average home are set to rise to £3,500-a-year in October – and they could rise as £7,236 as of April.
Experts fear inflation could hit 22 per cent this winter, leaving millions unable to pay the bills and businesses going to the wall – all while energy firms are predicted to make £170billion extra in profit.
Goldman Sachs predicts inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent in July, will double in 2023 as the price cap on energy bills continues to rise pushed up by soaring gas prices .
The rising cost of food and a weak pound are also contributing to the crisis that is sending the UK towards recession.
Today a trade consultant who spent 15 years as a buyer for Waitrose warned that staple foods were among those facing near-double digit inflation this year – despite a drive by supermarkets to keep their cost down.
She also warned that inflation on branded and luxury supermarket goods could be as high as 20 per cent in some cases.
Read More: £1.45 for ONE can of Heinz Beans!
