UK food inflation hits 15-month high
According to webangah News Agency, UK food price inflation reached 4.1% in May,marking the highest level since February 2024.
Analysts at Kantar report that British consumers are increasingly turning to discounted items and supermarket own-brand products as price growth accelerated from April’s 3.8% rate.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, stated: “Households have long been adjusting their shopping habits to manage budgets, but we typically see significant behavioral shifts when inflation crosses the 3-4% threshold and people feel its impact more directly.”
Discount supermarket chains have benefited most from this trend, with Aldi and Lidl collectively achieving an 8.4% sales increase – their strongest combined performance since January 2024.
Lidl recorded nearly an 11% sales surge, reaching a record 8.1% market share and becoming the fastest-growing physical retailer in Britain. The chain attracted 419,000 new customers compared to last year – the largest gain among all retailers.
Aldi posted a robust performance with sales up by 6.7%,its fastest growth rate this year,capturing an 11.1% market share. In contrast,Asda remains challenged as the only major chain experiencing both declining sales (down 3.2%) and shrinking market share (12.1%, just one percentage point above Aldi), despite its best annual performance in over a year.
The Co-op managed a modest 0.6% sales increase, overcoming similar supply chain difficulties faced by competitors.
