British shoppers faced increased pressure on their budgets last month after grocery price inflation edged higher, the latest industry data showed.
Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 2.0% in the four weeks to 29 September, having been 1.7% in the previous four-week period.
The data showed prices are rising fastest in products such as chilled soft drinks, chocolate confectionery and skin care, while falling fastest in household paper products, dog food and cat food.
Official data published last month showed overall UK inflation stayed at 2.2% in August. Data for September will be published on 16 October, the last update before the new Labour government's 30 October budget statement.
Grocery Sales
Kantar's data showed UK grocery sales rose 2.0% in value terms over the four week period year-on-year, versus 3.0% in last month's report.
Over the 12 weeks to 29 September online supermarket Ocado was again the fastest growing grocer with sales up 10% year-on-year, taking its market share to 1.8%.
Industry leader Tesco saw sales growth of 5.2% and its market share rose 60 basis points to hit 28.0%, its largest share since December 2017.
Sales at No. 2 Sainsbury's rose 5.1% but No. 3 Asda was again the laggard, with its sales down 5.1% and it lost 1.1 percentage points of market share year-on-year.
Kantar said discounters Aldi and Lidl saw sales growth of 1.8% and 8.8% respectively.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, explained, “In the fiercely competitive retail sector, the battle for value is on. Supermarkets are doing what they can to keep costs down for consumers and thanks to their efforts the prices in some categories are falling.
“The average price paid for toilet and kitchen roll is 6% lower year-on-year, for example, while dog and cat food are 4% and 3% cheaper respectively.”
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
