The price of an everyday essential breakfast product more than doubled in a year, a consumer champion reveals.
Shoppers are paying 144% more on average for the Tesco own brand 1.5kg porridge oats, with the price going from £1.23 in September 2022 rising to an average of £3 this year.
The supermarket giant wasn’t the only retailer to raise the prices of essential morning meal products either. In its rival store Asda, a 1kg pot of Lancashire Farm natural yoghurt shot up from an average price of £1 last year to nearly twice as much at £1.78 in 2023.
Which? analysed the prices of nearly 27,000 food and drink products at eight major supermarkets in the UK – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – as part of its food inflation tracker.
Across all those retailers, the overall rate of food inflation actually fell from 12.5% in August to 11.2% at the end of September but Sainsbury’s recorded the highest inflation rate of 14%.
Access to healthy and affordable food
Despite a number of supermarkets announcing price cuts, including by Asda and Tesco, there is concern over whether low-income families are able to afford a healthy breakfast.
This follows a separate report by TopCashback which found families are spending over £500 on food each month, equating to an average of £6,192 in the year.
Which? has called for essential budget items to be stocked in smaller convenience stores so that low-income people with low mobility or no access to public transport to reach a bigger supermarket aren’t forced to buy more expensive foods or go without.
Sue Davies, Which? head of food policy, said: “While the general rate of inflation may be easing, everyday essential foods are still subject to crippling price hikes on supermarket shelves. We know millions of people up and down the country continue to struggle to put food on the table, let alone maintain a balanced diet for themselves or their loved ones.
“Supermarkets have the power to ease the huge pressure faced by shoppers, especially families and those on low incomes. They can do more to help by stocking a range of budget range items that will support a healthy diet in their convenience stores. Which? research has found that these stores rarely, if ever, stock the cheapest products.”
