Food Inflation Increases Again In February

The year-on-year figure is up from 3.9% in January and represents the highest rate of food price inflation since the BRC started compiling the figures in December 2006.

As a result, overall shop price inflation rose from 1.2% in January to 1.3% in February – also the highest rate of inflation since the series began.BRC director general, Stephen Robertson, said, “Retailers are suffering the effects of some unavoidable rising costs, such as higher global commodity prices, but are doing everything they can to shield their customers from these rises.

“As people’s budgets tighten this year the key word in retail is value and customers will continue to benefit from the intense price competition between retailers.”

Mike Watkins, senior manager, retailer services, Nielsen, said, “The increase in food prices in February will come as a stark reminder of the pressure many households are facing from increasing household bills despite the best endeavours of retailers to absorb as much of the increases as possible.

The 4.6% increase in annual food price inflation was driven by both fresh and ambient food which saw marked increases in prices, the BRC said. On a month-on-month basis, food prices rose by 0.6% in February, compared with January’s rise of 0.5%. The slight rise in prices came as fresh food items rose by 0.4% this month compared with January. Ambient items saw inflation slow to 0.9% in February compared with January, when prices increased by 1.4% on a month-on-month basis.

Fresh food price inflation increased by 5.1% in February compared to a year ago, a considerable increase from 4.3% in January. This is the highest annual rate of fresh food price inflation since April 2007 when prices rose 5.4%.