The price of a pint of milk has broken the £1 barrier for the first time ever at Sainsbury’s, as inflation continues to soar, driven by rocketing food and fuel costs as households face increasing cost of living pressures.
The supermarket has started selling a single pint of milk for £1.05 in some of its smaller Sainsbury’s Local stores.
According to official figures, the average cost of a pint of milk in the UK is currently almost half of that, at 55p. This time last year, that figure was just 43p, marking an increase of 28% in just 12 months.
All UK supermarkets have been forced to increased the price of milk recently, as the dairy industry has seen the cost of milk production soar by 36%, putting farmers under pressure and resulting in a drop in milk production.
However, Sainsbury’s is the first to push the price of a pint of milk beyond the £1 mark.
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The news comes in the wake of last week’s news that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged to 10.1% this week, up from 9.4% in June and its highest since February 1982.
The Office for National Statistics said this was driven largely by fuel and food prices, with dairy products hit particularly hard. Butter costs have increased by 27.1% and cheese by 17% in the past 12 months, while significant increases have also been seen across meat, vegetables, bread and cereals.
Sainsbury’s said the high price is because the Local stores are more expensive to run, with a pint of milk in its larger supermarkets costing 85p.
A spokesperson said: “Rents, for example, are often more expensive in our smaller stores due to their locations.
“It can also be more of a challenge to deliver products to our local stores.”
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter commented on the rise, saying: “The relentless rise upwards in prices continues, with little sign of a break for consumers who are desperately trying to make ends meet.”
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