Shelf shock: soaring supermarket prices shoppers find hard to swallow
Inflation is rampant, and supermarket prices are no exception. Shoppers are returning to stores to find old favourites have leapt in price from one week to the next. The cost of consumer goods is spiralling at such a rate that retail analysts have coined a new term, shelf shock.
Nestlé, the owner of KitKat, Häagen-Dazs and Felix cat food, became the latest consumer goods group to warn of more pain to come on Thursday, saying it had raised prices by 5.2% in the first three months of this year and that rising production costs would force another increase soon.
Retailers and manufacturers are passing on increases from energy and fuel bills, packaging and raw materials to shoppers.
Across the board, the cost of a basket of basic commodities in the UK has risen by more than 11% compared with last March, according to research from the market analysts Assosia. Basic pasta, milk and instant coffee have all had double-digit increases.
When we asked our readers where inflation was hitting them, they presented a long shopping list of items.
The price of a tin of Sainsbury’s own-label dog food has risen from 40p to 70p. One reader said the 75% rise meant the cost of feeding her pet had soared to more than £250 a year. “It’s only a small item, but everything in my basket seems to have increased at the same rate, and wages have stagnated,” she said.
The average price of a standard tin of supermarkets’ own-label dog food is up almost 42% in the past year to an average of 63p, according to analysis by the research firm Assosia for the Guardian.
The price of tin, used for the packaging, has tripled in the past two years while soaring energy and transport costs and increasing meat prices are all pushing up the cost of pet food.
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