All eyes are back on inflation as grocery prices rise

New figures shows there has been a slowdown of grocery price inflation as supermarkets are now offering less deals this month.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “All eyes are back on inflation again after the Consumer Prices Index’s (CPI) unexpected jump earlier in the month.

“There’s been a lot of speculation about the impact the Red Sea shipping crisis might have on the cost of goods, but the story in the grocery aisles this January is more about the battle between the supermarkets to offer best value, rather than geopolitics.

“Retailers have taken their foot off the promotions gas slightly as we’ve come into the new year, and that’s meant inflation hasn’t fallen as quickly.”

McKevitt added, “Health always comes to the fore as a priority for consumers in January, but what’s interesting this month is that we’re not seeing as big a spike in health-related categories as we have done in previous years.

“That’s because people are now buying more of the typical January ‘health kick’ items throughout the year – 9% of annual own label plant-based sales were made in January in 2023, a steady decline compared with the 11% of sales in 2020.”