Food inflation dips but still remains high

According to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) consumer price inflation report, food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation in January 2023 decreased slightly from December 2022 and now stands at 16.7 percent.

In December 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) 12 month rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages stood at 16.8 percent, meaning consumers were paying more for their food shopping amid the festive period.

On a month-by-month basis, the CPI for food and non-alcoholic beverages in January 2023 is 0.6 percent, according to ONS.

ONS has also revealed the largest upward contributions to the annual CPIH inflation rate came from housing and household services as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages. It has said that the overall CPI inflation rose by 10.1 percent in the year leading up to January 2023.

ONS has also released a producer price inflation report that has revealed that food products were the largest upward contributors to the output annual rate in the 12 months leading up to January 2023. It says that this was mainly driven by meat and meat products.

Cost-of-living driving consumers in supermarkets, not sustainability

Commenting on the impact of food inflation on British consumers, Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “While inflation eased for the third month in a row, households are still being squeezed by high prices.

“The cost of food remains elevated, with the ripple effect from the war in Ukraine pushing up the price of food due to the knock-on increases from high fertiliser and energy prices. So as Christmas discounts faded away, households will have felt the pressure in their weekly grocery shop.”

Stating that consumers were offered “some relief” in the month of January with the prices of petrol and diesel falling, Dickinson claimed that “retailers remain committed to doing everything they can to keep the price of essentials low for consumers, expanding value ranges and offering discounts for vulnerable groups.”