Dating Vouchers Express Mortgages Express Loans Bingo Lose Weight Franchising Mobile Recycle Shopping Book Shop Compare Broadband Wine Shop Legal Store FlatShare Cruises

Columnists

UK NEWS

FOOD PRICES FALL AT LAST

BOOST: Cheaper shopping bills will bring cheer to millions

Tuesday October 28,2008

By Louise Barnett

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(5)

STRUGGLING shoppers received a huge boost last night with figures showing the cost of several popular food items has started to fall.

A basket of a dozen everyday meat and fish products is now cheaper than last month – the first time prices have dropped for a year.

It is a strong signal that food price inflation, which has rocketed over the past 12 months, has finally peaked and that further cuts are on the way.

British Retail Consortium spokesman Richard Dodd said it was further evidence that the worst was over for hard-pressed families.

“Now that many of the costs, such as oil and wheat, which pushed up prices earlier in the year are falling, retailers are moving quickly to pass the benefits on,” he said.

The news is a strong sign that food price inflation has peaked

“The good news is the downward pressure on prices appears to have further to go.”

Food industry bible The Grocer magazine carried out a price comparison at the UK’s four major supermarkets.

It found that a basket of 12 meat and fish products was 0.4 per cent cheaper in September than in August.

It is a promising sign and, hopefully, it will keep going as well

James Ball, of The Grocer

The drop is significant because it is the first time meat has become cheaper month-on- month this year.

A total of seven products fell in price, with sausages seeing the biggest fall, down 7.2 per cent last month.

A pack of thick pork sausages is 9p cheaper now at an average £1.16.

Pork chops are 20p a kilo cheaper at £5.01 per kilo – a 3.8 per cent fall.

Fresh beef sirloin steak is 36p a kilo cheaper at £15.15 – a drop of 2.3 per cent.

The price of lamb chops, skinless chicken breast fillets, unsmoked back bacon and whole free-range chicken all fell slightly while whole trout stayed the same.

Lean beef steak mince, organic beef mince, salmon fillets and unsmoked gammon joint are all more expensive.

James Ball, of The Grocer, said meat was falling in price due to cheaper oil and animal feed bringing down production costs.

“It has been the fastest to go up and it has been one of the first categories where we have actually seen a month-on-month price fall,” he said.

It is a promising sign and, hopefully, it will keep going as well.”

Despite the price falls, the meat and fish products are still a massive 16.4 per cent more expensive than last year.

Asda boss Andy Bond said last night: “Food inflation has definitely peaked. In fact, shoppers are beginning to see the price of staple products like bread falling again.”

The wholesale cost of other key commodities like coffee, cocoa beans and palm oil have also fallen in the past week.

Charles Davis, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, predicted that fierce competition between UK food stores would help falling wholesale costs feed through to shop shelf prices.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics also indicated food inflation had run out of steam.

Food prices rose 12.7 per cent in the year to September, down from a 14.5 per cent increase in the year to August.

EXPRESS CITY: THE LATEST FINANCIAL NEWS
EXPRESS MONEY: FIND OUT HOW TO SAFEGUARD YOUR MONEY IN THE CRISIS

I WISH I COULD FIND THESE PRICE DROPS

28.10.08, 4:14pm

They must be looking at the special offers that are never there when we go shopping, Tesco send round leaflets with special offers most not available in Brigg store so if you want to check next nearest store a 20 mile round trip, even things like value porridge oats seldom in stock same with other value items, Morrisons advertised a 50p range and out of 3 visits I we got was 1 pack of sausage only because the wrapper was busted, short term special offers should not be counted as price drop as not available to all shoppers and often limited stocks snapped up by shoppers close to the supermarkets, it's not economical to do a 10 to 20 mile round trip hoping to get the offers when you live in rural areas.

• Posted by: CAN • Report Comment

OH REALLY??

28.10.08, 8:54am

Where?? So how come my local Sainsbury's has just whacked their own brand olive spread up from £1.07 to £1.20 for a 500g tub? Two months ago, the same item was 97 pence. And how come they are still selling bread at around £1.24 per loaf? Buying the cheapest 'basic' brand is a false economy, because much of it I've found to be pretty tasteless.

I've been waiting for evidence of these "huge" price reductions for months. I continue to wait with anticipation. No, I'm wrong. I did see a price reduction yesterday..... a measly one pence lower than last week.

Seeing as where I live, there is no Asda, Lidl, Morrison's or Aldi for miles, and the only competition is Waitrose (way off the price scale) and Tesco (no difference from Sainsbury's), I'm not holding my breath.

After decimating the local foods shops, supermarkets have got us by the short and curlies and they know it.

• Posted by: Veltro205 • Report Comment

OH REALLY !

28.10.08, 8:38am

The only cost of food I have seen drop is the stuff that nobody wants to buy.

The staple foods have all increased in price at my local shop (T**CO's). How can they justify a 25p increase in a bag of dried raisins for home cooking?

BELIEVE IT WHEN YOU SEE IT !

• Posted by: KarlH • Report Comment

FOOD PRICES FALLAT LAST

28.10.08, 12:59am

Well said Beefsandwich -If you aren't a veggie - I hope you can soon afford to eat one - and make the most of it - it won't last

• Posted by: Jaypuss • Report Comment

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

28.10.08, 12:22am

This looks like good news, but it is not.

Falling prices are simply a sad reflection on the serious deterioration in the British economy under Gormless Brown's misguided leadership.

Prices always fall when supply outstrips demand. People are hard-up under this New Labour apology for a government, ergo they are buying less, ergo prices fall. So the price reductions merely confirm that British people are badly in need more take-home pay so that they can buy the goods they need to live their lives to the full.

• Posted by: beefsandwich • Report Comment