Grocery price inflation eases to slowest monthly rate this year - Kantar

Grocery price inflation has eased to its lowest monthly level this year, according to industry data released on Tuesday.

According to Kantar Worldpanel, grocery price inflation was 16.5% for the four weeks to 11 June, down from 17.2% a month earlier. This was still the sixth highest monthly figure since 2008.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said that while the easing will be a relief to shoppers and retailers, prices rising at 16.5% "isn’t something to celebrate and it’s still the sixth highest monthly figure in the past 15 years".

"Price rises are now being compared to the increasing rate of grocery inflation seen last summer, which means that it should continue to fall in the coming months, a welcome result for everyone," he said.

The data showed that prices are rising fastest in markets such as eggs, ambient cooking sauces and frozen potato products.

Aldi was the fastest growing retailer in the 12 weeks, with sales up 24.6% pushing it to a new record market share of 10.2%, up 1.2 percentage points on the same period last year.

Fellow German discounter Lidl’s sales growth was only slightly behind, up 23.2%, giving it 7.7% of the market, up from 6.9%.

Morrisons' sales rose by 0.8% during the period, while its market share fell to 8.8% from 9.6%.

Sainsbury’s and Asda’s sales both grew at 10.0% over the past 12 weeks, ahead of the wider grocery market. They now account for 14.9% and 13.7% of total sales respectively, both flat on the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, Tesco - Britain’s largest retailer - saw its sales increase by 8.9%, as it achieved a 27.1% market share, down from 27.3%.

Sales at Co-op rose by 3.8%, giving it a 5.8% market share, down from 6.2%. Sales at Waitrose were up 3.3%, with a market share of 4.5%, down from 4.8%.