By James Davey
LONDON (Reuters) - UK grocery price inflation eased this month to its lowest level since February 2022, but nearly a quarter of British households still identify themselves as struggling financially, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 4.5% in the four weeks to March 17, versus 5.3% in the previous four week period.
Prices are rising fastest in markets such as sugar confectionery, chocolate confectionery and vitamins & supplements and are falling fastest in butter, milk and toilet tissues, it said.
“Grocery inflation has come down significantly since hitting an eye-watering peak of 17% in March 2023," Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight, said.
"However, despite this continued slowdown, many British households are still feeling the squeeze. 23% identified themselves as struggling financially in our data – the same proportion as reported in November last year.”
Kantar said take-home grocery sales rose 4.6% over the four week period year-on-year.
The researcher noted an early Easter boosted sales of seasonal treats in the first three months of 2024 by 88 million pounds ($111 million) compared with the same period last year.
Kantar said online supermarket Ocado (LON:OCDO) was the fastest growing UK grocer over the 12 weeks to March 17, with sales up 9.5% year-on-year, benefiting from a sustained voucher campaign which helped it attract customers.
Industry leader Tesco (LON:TSCO) and No. 2 Sainsbury's saw their sales increase by 5.8% and 6.7% respectively and they both won share.
No. 3 Asda was the clear laggard, with sales up 0.2%, while Morrisons' sales rose 3.6%.
German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl saw sales growth of 3.1% and 8.8% respectively. However, while Lidl's market share increased, Aldi's edged lower.
UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)
Market share Market share % change in
12 wks to 12 wks to sales
Mar. 17 2024 Mar. 19 2023 (yr-on-yr)
Tesco 27.3 26.9 5.8
Sainsbury's 15.2 14.8 6.7
Asda 13.8 14.3 0.2
Aldi 9.8 9.9 3.1
Morrisons 8.7 8.8 3.6
Lidl 7.8 7.4 8.8
Co-operative 5.5 5.7 -0.4
Waitrose 4.5 4.5 3.9
Iceland 2.2 2.3 2.2
Ocado 1.9 1.8 9.5
Source: Kantar
($1 = 0.7913 pounds)