According to Kantar’s latest market report, grocery price inflation has hit a new record, rising to 12.4% in August. This figure means that the average annual grocery bill will go from £4,610 to £5,181 if consumers do not change what they usually buy. 

Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said that the rate at which food and drink prices are increasing continues to accelerate and categories like milk, butter and dog food are rising “especially quickly” at 31%, 25% and 29% respectively.

Take-home grocery sales increased by 3.8% in the 12 weeks to 4th September 2022, according to the latest data .

Managing budgets 

Kantar reported that sales of the “very cheapest value” own-label products are up by a third compared to a year ago and nearly a quarter of baskets contains one of these lines. Overall spending across all retailers own-label lines was £393 million higher during the latest four weeks, pushing own-label’s share of the market to 51.1%.

McKevitt explained: “In what is a fiercely competitive sector, supermarkets are reacting to make sure they’re seen to acknowledge the challenges consumers are facing and offer best value, in particular by expanding their own-label ranges.

“Shoppers are taking steps to manage their budgets by broadening the range of stores they visit in which the discount grocers are benefiting.”

Discounters on the rise 

Aldi’s sales rose by 18.7% over the 12 weeks to 4th September 2022, reaching a 9.3% market share and making it Britain’s fourth largest supermarket for the first time. The retailer has expanded its shopper base with store openings and by welcoming 14.2 million consumers to the grocer over the past three months. 

Lidl grew sales by 20.9% which means its market share has now increased to 7.1% and for the fourth month in a row Lidl was the fastest growing grocer, recording its strongest sales performance since October 2014.

Iceland won market share in the latest period with its sales being 5.8% higher than in 2021. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda all achieved their best sales performance since April 2021. 

Tesco’s market share now stands at 26.9% following a 1.9% boost to sales, while Asda currently holds 14.1% of the market following 2.2% sales growth. Sainsbury’s accounts for 14.6% of the market.