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UK grocery price inflation accelerated to a roughly one-and-a-half year high, numbers from market researcher Worldpanel showed Tuesday, while warmer weather led to loftier sales of summer staples. UK grocery sales in the 12 weeks to July 13 rose 4.6% on-year to £35.97 billion from £34.40 billion a year prior. In the final four weeks of the survey, grocery price inflation spiked to 5.2%, the loftiest level since January 2024, and picking up from the 4.7% a month prior. Worldpanel, formerly known as Kantar, said the latest acceleration in the grocery price inflation could lift the annual bill by £275 if shopping habits stay as they are. ‘Just under two thirds of households say they are very concerned about the cost of their grocery shopping, and people are adapting their habits to avoid the full impact of price rises. Own label products, which are often cheaper, continue to be some of the big winners and, in fact, sales of these ranges are again outpacing brands, growing by 5.6% versus 4.9%. These inflationary worries aren’t just changing what we buy, but how we prepare it too. We often see people choosing to make simpler meals when they are trying to save money, and today, almost seven in ten dinner plates include fewer than six components,’ Worldpanel analyst Fraser McKevitt commented. Worldpanel noted warmer weather meant ‘plenty of room for more traditional seasonal staples alongside new favourites’. ‘And while not everyone is putting strawberries and cream in sandwiches just yet, Wimbledon did help get them back on shoppers’ minds, with sales shooting up by 28% and 16% respectively,’ McKevitt added, referencing the strawberries and cream sweetened bread sandwich sold by Marks & Spencer Group PLC. Among individual grocers, Tesco PLC remained the largest by market share, though discount chain Lidl achieved a milestone of its own. Tesco sales rose 7.1% on-year over the 12-week period to £10.20 billion, taking its market share to 28.3% from 27.7% 12 month earlier. J Sainsbury PLC sales rose 5.3% year-on-year to £5.42 billion, with its market share edging up to 15.1% from 15.0%. Ocado Retail sales, a joint-venture equally owned by London listings Ocado PLC and M&S, sales jumped 12% to £704 million. The market share for the online only grocer rose to 2.0% from 1.8%. Asda’s market share slumped to 11.8% from 12.8%, and sales fell 3.0%. Lidl sales jumped 11%, and its market share rose to a best-ever 8.3%, from 7.8% a year earlier. Aldi remained the fourth most popular UK grocer by market share. Its share of the market rose to 10.9% from 10.7%, and sales rose 6.3%. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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