Why are UK food prices up by 19% – and which foods are worst affected?
B ritish households are facing the fastest annual increase in food and drink prices since 1977, the latest inflation figures show, as the soaring cost of basic essentials adds to pressure from sky-high energy bills amid the cost of living crisis.
Official figures show food and drink inflation reached 19.1% in March, far above the headline rate of 10.1% for the increase in the cost of an average basket of goods and services.
Prices have jumped about 25% in the past two years alone, cramming into just 24 months the same level of price growth seen over the preceding 13 years.
Experts say soaring energy costs and supply chain disruption set off by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are the main reasons, alongside rising labour costs, bad weather affecting harvests, and Brexit trade barriers.
There are hopes prices could ease soon, after a drop in global wholesale food prices in recent months, including a 32.8 point fall in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations index from a peak in March 2022. However, producers buy and sell using long-term contracts, making it harder for consumer prices to fall quickly.
There are also reports of “greedflation” – businesses fuelling inflation by profiteering – as manufacturers and retailers push through large increases in the price of essentials.
Karen Betts, the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, denied companies were profiteering from basic essentials, saying her members had experienced a 21% rise in production costs last year but had increased prices by about 10%. “We know we have responsibility to keep food and drink affordable, and companies are taking that very seriously. Their margins are genuinely being squeezed,” Betts said.
Nevertheless, the price of some
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