Proactive Investors - Costs of a range of basic food staples sold by the UK's largest supermarkets soared past general food inflation over the past year, according to a new survey.
In the most extreme case, the price of porridge oats jumped by 35% on average, though increases were even higher on certain items, with Asda’s Welsh Dragon cheese seeing an 80% hike compared to a year ago.
Consumer group Which? carried out the survey across eight of the UK’s largest supermarkets and found that price rises on staple items far exceeded even the 17.2% official number for March.
Cheese prices, on average rose by 28.3%, pork sausages by 26.8% and white bread by 22.8%.
On individual items, however, it was not only Asda that pushed through high price increases, said Which?, with the average of a basket of the groups’ own label ranges jumping by 24.8%.
Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, commented: "While the whole food chain affects prices, supermarkets have the power to do more to support people who are struggling, including ensuring everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need.
"Supermarkets must also provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value."
A Tesco (LON:TSCO) spokesperson told Sky News that it remains "absolutely focused on providing great value for our customers. Our market-leading combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices, and Clubcard Prices means we are the most competitive we have ever been".
Tesco was accused last week of making "obscene profits" by trade union Unite after its posted annual results showing it earned £2.6bn before one-off charges.
Ken Murphy, the grocery chain's chief executive, later defended the results, saying it had “shielded customers from the full force of ‘unprecedented’ cost pressures” it was facing.
Which? surveyed prices in Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado (LON:OCDO), Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.