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Family food shop up '£15 a week' | Family food shop up '£15 a week' |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The highest food costs since 1945 have added £15 to a weekly supermarket shop for a family of four in the UK, new research suggests. | |
Comparison website MySupermarket.co.uk says a basket of 24 staple items including tea bags, milk and eggs costs 15% more than it did 12 months ago. | Comparison website MySupermarket.co.uk says a basket of 24 staple items including tea bags, milk and eggs costs 15% more than it did 12 months ago. |
The findings are based on its price comparisons of certain everyday items at Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda. | The findings are based on its price comparisons of certain everyday items at Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda. |
A white loaf was up more than 20% at 65 pence at Tesco and Sainsbury's. | |
Shopping basket | |
At all three supermarkets, the price of a dozen medium free-range eggs was up almost 50% to £2.58 from £1.75 a year earlier. | |
A packet of fusilli pasta has nearly doubled to 67p from 37p, as has the cost of butter, to 94p from 58p. | |
COST OF FOOD White loaf at Sainsbury's and Tesco: 65p - up 20%Butter: 94p - up 62%English mild cheddar: £1.52 - up 26%Garden peas at Tesco: £1.79 - up 63%Basmati white rice: £1.45 - up 61% Source: MySupermarket.co.uk | |
Other items in the basket of staple goods were milk, minced beef, peas, pasta sauce, jam, corn flakes and rice. | Other items in the basket of staple goods were milk, minced beef, peas, pasta sauce, jam, corn flakes and rice. |
However, the cost of a number of fruit and vegetables bucked the trend. They were either static or were cheaper when compared with last April. | |
But that is unlikely to comfort shoppers or ease an overall rise in prices, analysts said. | |
Johnny Stern, managing director of MySupermarket.co.uk, said: "The conclusion is that supermarkets are passing on a sizeable amount of the increased costs. | Johnny Stern, managing director of MySupermarket.co.uk, said: "The conclusion is that supermarkets are passing on a sizeable amount of the increased costs. |
"The average customer cares about the products they need to put in their basket every week that they don't have any choice about," he added. | "The average customer cares about the products they need to put in their basket every week that they don't have any choice about," he added. |
The increases mean that families spending an average of £100 a week on food will be spending £780 a year more at a time when customers are under increasing pressure from higher mortgage, petrol and energy costs. | |
Global problem | |
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown met food industry representatives and experts on Tuesday to consider ways to tackle the effects of international food price rises. | |
Products including rice, cooking oil and wheat have been scaling new peaks since the beginning of the year. | |
The increases have been driven by a number of supply problems in key producing countries, mainly caused by bad weather and the increase in the use of land to grow crops for biofuel. | |
Those costs have been fed through to meat and dairy products as farmers pay more to feed their livestock. | |
Analysts have warned that the higher prices are threatening to drive an extra 100 million people worldwide into poverty. |