Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s outperformed the grocer market this month, as food price inflation fell by 2.2% to 12.7% in the four weeks to 6 August 2023.
According to the latest data from retail analyst Kantar, the two largest retailer’s growth in the UK was fueled by sales boost of 9.5% and 9.3% respectively, over the 12 weeks to 6 August.
Tesco boosted its market share to 27.0%, from 26.9% a year ago, while Sainsbury’s held steady at 14.8%.
Aldi was the fastest growing retailer for the fourth month in a row, with sales surging by 21.2% compared to 2022, giving it a market share of 10.2%.
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Additionally, Kantar revealed that overall take-home grocery sales were up 6.5% over the same period, down from 10.4% last month.
Head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, Fraser McKevitt, commented: “The latest slowdown in price rises is the second sharpest monthly fall since we started monitoring grocery inflation in this way back in 2008.
“Prices are still up year on year across every supermarket shelf, but consumers will have been relieved to see the cost of some staple goods starting to edge down compared with earlier in 2023.
“Shoppers paid £1.50 for four pints of milk last month, down from £1.69 in March, while the average cost of a litre of sunflower oil is now £2.19, 22 pence less than in the spring.”
However, McKevitt also said: “Cooler temperatures and a wetter than average month may have also put people off from venturing to the shops.
“Footfall was down for the first time in 18 months with people making 320,000 fewer trips to physical supermarkets than a year ago.”
Last month, Kantar found that grocery price inflation saw steepest decline since inflation peaked in March this year.
