Highlights
- Grocery price inflation is 5.0% this month
- Sales of branded goods are growing ahead of own-label alternatives
- Home cooks are spending three fewer minutes preparing evening meals than they did in 2017
July saw a dip in grocery inflation, along with Brits' increasing habit of cutting down on eating-out and spending more on treats at home, suggests the industry figure released today (Aug 19).
Grocery price inflation has nudged down slightly to 5.0 per cent, while take-home sales at the grocers grew by 4.0 per cent over the four weeks to 10 August versus last year, according to the latest figures from Worldpanel by Numerator.
The rate of grocery price inflation was 5.2 per cent in July. Symbol and independent market share saw a rise of 4.7 per cent.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, comments: “We’ve seen a marginal drop in grocery price inflation this month, but we’re still well past the point at which price rises really start to bite and consumers are continuing to adapt their behaviour to make ends meet.
"What people pay for their supermarket shopping often impacts their spending across other parts of the high street too, including their eating and drinking habits out of the home.
"Casual and fast service restaurants especially have seen a decline in visitors over the summer, with trips falling by 6% during the three months to mid-July 2025* – compared with last year. The outliers in this are coffee shops which have bucked the trend.”
While people are making savings outside of the home, they are still seeking treats in store. Sales of branded grocery items grew by 6.1 per cent this month, putting them ahead of own-label alternatives which were up by 4.1 per cent, the largest gap in favour of brands since March 2024.
Branded sales make up 46.4 per cent of all grocery spending but are particularly dominant in personal care, confectionery, hot drinks and soft drinks where they account for more than 75 per cent of money through the tills.
While a far smaller part of the market, premium own-label is also continuing to do well and sales rose by 11.5 per cent this period.
There’s a significant milestone in the freezer aisles this year as the fish finger turns 70 in September.
McKevitt explains, “The humble fish finger remains as popular as ever and nearly one billion were sold in the past year, with more than half of households grabbing a box.”
Their enduring presence on our plates reflects a much broader shift in people looking for easy and quick to prepare foods.
“The average home cook now spends three minutes less preparing the evening meal than they did in 2017 at just under 31 minutes. We can see this trend in the growth of things like microwaveable rice, ready meals and chilled pizza too, which have grown by 8 per cent, 6 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.”
Lidl and Ocado were tied for top spot as the fastest growing grocers over the 12 weeks to 10 August 2025, with sales at both retailers up by 10.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Lidl’s share of the market increased by 0.5 percentage points to 8.3 per cent , while Ocado now holds 1.9 per cent , up from 1.8 per cent in 2024. Online sales across all retailers rose by 6.7 per cent over the 12 weeks.
Tesco enjoyed its largest monthly share gain since December 2024 as its hold of the market rose by 0.8 percentage points to 28.4 per cent . This was driven by sales growth of 7.4 per cent compared to last year.