UK grocery inflation slows again as staple food prices drop for first time in a year

investmentweek.co.uk:

Grocery price inflation during the period was still double digits at 11%, and take-home grocery sales rose by 9.1%.

Food price growth slowed again in the four weeks to 1 October, marking the seventh consecutive month of easing, and taking food inflation to the lowest rate since July 2022.

Grocery price inflation during the period was still double digits at 11%, and take-home grocery sales rose by 9.1% compared with last year. But prices have started to drop in some areas.

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Dairy, for example, was one of the categories where costs shot up last autumn, but the average price paid for a 250g pack of butter is now 16p less than 12 months ago.

Supermarkets' cut price promotional offers are also having the impact of lowering inflation. Spending on promotions made up over a quarter of all sales in the latest 12-week period at 26.5%, the highest level since June 2022.

Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, has been leading the pack on promotions, and is reaping the rewards. Sales rose by 9.2% over the last 12 weeks, taking Tesco's market share up 0.4 percentage points to 27.4%.

Name-branded products are also jumping on the promotions wagon and are likewise seeing strong results.

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Branded promotion sales hit their highest rate since January this year, helping the category grow sales by 7.3% across the 12-week period and narrow the gap with own-label lines, which grew by 10.1%.

Unseasonably warm weather helped sales of ice cream, burgers and dips, up  27%, 19% and 10%, respectively, as people fired up BBQs.

But early Christmas shopping was out of mind, with fewer people buying Christmas puddings and seasonal