Cost of staple foods ‘edges down’

Food prices remain high but there are signs that the cost of some staples is “edging down”, according to the Kantar research company.

According to its data, grocery price inflation fell by 2.2 percentage points to 12.7% in the four weeks to 6 August 2023 - the second sharpest monthly fall since it started monitoring grocery inflation in this way back in 2008.

Prices are still up year on year across every supermarket shelf, it added, but “consumers will have been relieved” to see the cost of some staple goods starting to decrease compared with earlier in 2023.

Its research showed that shoppers paid £1.50 for four pints of milk last month, down from £1.69 in March, while the average cost of a litre of sunflower oil is now £2.19, 22 pence less than in the spring.