Grocery inflation falls for 14th straight month

Grocery price inflation has fallen for the 14th month in a row to 3.2 per cent.

The latest figures from Worldpanel by Kantar, covering the the four weeks to 14 April, reflect a significant increase in promotional spending, with items bought on offer making up 29.3 per cent of supermarket sales. That’s the highest level outside of Christmas since June 2021.

Overall take-home grocery sales rose by 3.3 per cent this month, according to the grocery data analyst.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel by Kantar, said: “We’ve been monitoring steady annual growth in promotions over the past 11 months as retailers respond to consumers’ desire for value. Deals helped shoppers save a massive £1.3bn in the latest four weeks, almost £46 per household.

“This emphasis on offers, coupled with falling prices in some categories like toilet tissues, butter and milk, has helped to bring the rate of grocery inflation down for shoppers at the till.”

Boost for fruit as a snack

As well as high Easter spending on confectionery, McKevitt noted that fruit has also bumped up the list of Britain’s snack choices, with 314 million more pieces of fruit eaten between meals in 2023 than in 2013.

Ocado on the march

Ocado was again the fastest-growing grocer this month, improving sales by 12.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to 14 April, ahead of the total online market which grew by 6.8 per cent. The retailer accounted for 1.9 per cent of take-home grocery sales, up from the 1.7 per cent it held a year ago.

Meanwhile, total online reached a share of 12 per cent for the first time since July 2022.

Britain’s two largest grocers, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, both gained 0.4 percentage points of share in the latest 12 weeks, holding 27.4 and 15.3 per cent of the market respectively. Sainsbury’s’ sales increased by 6.8 per cent and Tesco grew by 5.9 per cent.

Lidl achieved a record 8 per cent share of the market, also up by 0.4 percentage points versus a year ago, fuelled by sales growth of 9.1 per cent. Fellow discounter Aldi reclaimed the 10 per cent market share it last held in September 2023, increasing sales by 2.8 per cent.