‘Own-label prices soaring faster than premium brands’

Price rises on own-label items are far outstripping those of branded and premium products, show latest figures.

According to Which? report, price of value items was up 21.6 per cent in January on a year before, well in excess of overall grocery inflation of 15.9 per cent. On the other hand, branded goods rose by 13.2 per cent over the year, own-label premium ranges were up 13.4% and standard own-brand items increased 18.9 per cent.

Some of the biggest price increase was seen on supermarket’s own value items with Sainsbury’s muesli (87.5 per cent) topping the charts, followed by tins of sliced carrots up (63 per cent) at Tesco, and pork sausages (58.2 per cent) from at Asda.

The butter and spreads category continued to show significant inflation, up 29.9 per cent, as did milk, which went up by 26.1 per cent on average across all eight supermarkets. The price of cheese went up by 23.8 per cent overall.

Which? analysed inflation on more than 25,000 food and drink products at eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, said: “It’s clear that food costs have soared in recent months, but our inflation tracker shows how households relying on supermarket value ranges are being hit the hardest.

“Supermarkets need to act and Which? is calling for them to ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need.

“Supermarkets must also do more to ensure transparent pricing enables people to easily work out which products offer the best value and target their promotions to support people who are really struggling.”

Prices were up 23.6 per cent at Lidl and 22.5 per cent at Aldi on a year ago, compared with 10.4 per cent at Ocado, 13.2 per cent at Sainsbury’s, 13.6 per cent at Tesco, 14.4 per cent at Morrisons, 15.2 per cent at Waitrose and 16.8 per cent at Asda, states the Which? report, adding that despite the more rise, prices at discounters still continues to remain cheaper than supermarket counterparts.