The supermarket foods that have 'doubled' in price since last year

The cost of certain food essentials have doubled in the last 12 months, according to the latest findings from Which?.

The consumer group has used a food and drink inflation tracker to analyse and track prices of more than 250,000 food and drink products at Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Morrisons, and Ocado.

New analysis from Which? has found the products experiencing the highest rates of inflation - with the prices of milk, meat and fruit found to have risen the most.

The annual inflation of popular food and drink products in February rose by 16.5 per cent across all eight supermarkets, reports The Mirror.

The price of own-brand products across retailers have increased higher than branded products. Branded groceries have risen by 13. per cent in comparison to 19.7 per cent with own-labels.

Which? trackers found that budget items have been hit hard, increasing by 22.9 per cent on average. Vegetables, on average, increased in price by between 11.6 and 13 per cent, with juice drinks and smoothies rising in price by up t 15.1 per cent.

The price of cereal has also shot up by between 13.4 and 14.6 per cent.

Overall, Which? found that discounters remained cheaper than bigger rivals in terms of monthly inflation from the end of February.

However, the increased by percentage were greater in budget stores. Lidl increased prices by 24.4 per cent overall, with Aldi increasing prices by 22.7 per cent, compared to February last year.

Asda prices were found to be 17 per cent higher, with Morrisons 16.7 per cent greater, Waitrose 14.2 per cent and Sainsbury's increasing costs by 14.1 per cent.

Surprisingly, Tesco and Ocado were found to have the lowest inflation increases, with rises of 14 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively. Which? also analysed Ocado, but the supermarket only includes branded items.

Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which? said: “Worryingly our tracker shows that some everyday essentials have more than doubled in price over the last year - with cheaper own-brand items particularly hard hit.

“Supermarkets need to step up and ensure everyone has easy access to basic, affordable food ranges at a store near them, particularly in areas where people are most in need.

“Retailers must also provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.”

Aldi declined to comment when approach by Which? following the findings, with Sainsbury's and Tesco yet to respond.

An Asda spokesperson said: “We’re working hard to keep prices in check for customers despite global inflationary pressures and we remain the lowest-priced major supermarket – a position recognised by Which? in their regular monthly basket comparison which has named Asda as the cheapest supermarket for a big shop every month for the last three years.

"We recently announced we would be freezing the prices of over 500 popular branded and own label products, more than half of which are fresh meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable products until the end of May.”

A Lidl spokesperson said: “We are extremely concerned that since the launch of this ‘tracker’ Which? has consistently chosen to publish information that we, and other retailers, have confirmed to be incorrect. This includes data for products that we do not even sell.”

A Morrison’s spokesperson said: "This is an unprecedented period of inflation and we are working hard to keep prices down and competitive for our customers while maintaining high standards and availability in all our stores.

"We recently reduced the price of 1,000 popular products and remain committed to doing all we can to help when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping.

"Our Morrisons Easter Collector scheme is also now live for eligible My Morrisons members enabling them to receive a significant money-off voucher to spend at Easter if they meet the criteria and shop in the relevant weeks."

An Ocado spokesperson said: “At Ocado, everything we do starts with our customers and we know how important value is to them right now. We continue to support our customers by investing in price across branded and own-brand products.

"We've also recently introduced the Ocado Price Promise so customers can be sure they’re getting great value.”

A Waitrose spokesperson said: "Although no retailer is immune to inflation, particularly with dairy products comprising the majority of this basket, we've been working hard to keep prices as affordable as possible for our customers - and have already committed a record £100million to lower the prices on hundreds of everyday staples."

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