Supermarkets are hiking the cost of cheaper food items faster than more expensive alternatives as the cost-of-living crisis continues, new research shows.
According to a study by Skuuudle, which tracked 18,790 items in UK supermarkets from July to December, items originally below 79p accelerated at the fastest rate.
For food staples commonly found in many retailer value ranges such as biscuits, chocolate and pasta that were sold for under 75p were found to have risen in price by 16%.
However, items that were priced over £5 in July have since fallen by nearly 4%.
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“The changes make difficult reading for those on low incomes who are seeing the cost of many value items increase but who may not be able to benefit at all from the reduction in price of more expensive items,” a Skuuudle spokesman said.
He explained that the change could be driven by a reduced demand for expensive items as the cost-of-living crisis has caused more people to opt for value products, adding that “supermarkets are having to contend with increasing costs associated with production and shipping, while issues of supply are driving costs up further.”
“Our data reveals that it’s the prices of the cheapest food items which are rising at the highest rate while many expensive items have actually become cheaper.
“It is often the cheapest items in our baskets that we pay the least attention to so understanding that some of these staples might be increasing at a faster rate will help the most value conscious shoppers stay in control of their weekly food shop bills.”
