James Davey
LONDON (Reuters) – UK food price inflation fell for the 14th month in a row in April, partly due to increased promotional activity at supermarkets, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Kantar said annual food price inflation was 3.2% in the four weeks to April 14, down from 4.5% in the previous four-week period.
Kantar said items bought on sale accounted for 29.3% of supermarket sales – the highest post-Christmas level since June 2021.
“This focus on offerings, coupled with falling prices in some categories such as toilet paper, butter and milk, has helped reduce grocery store inflation for shoppers at the checkout,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel. Kantar said.
However, he noted that prices are still rising rapidly in markets such as sugar and chocolate confectionery, as well as chilled fruit juices and drinks.
Official UK data released last week showed headline inflation fell to 3.2% in March, as food inflation slowed to 4%.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sought to take credit for cutting inflation by more than half, although opinion polls have seen no sign of an increase in the popularity of his Conservative Party, which is lagging far behind the opposition Labor Party ahead of an election expected this year.
Kantar said online player Ocado (LON:) was again the fastest-growing grocer in the 12 weeks to April 14, with sales up 12.5%.
Market leader Tesco (OTC:) and second-place Sainsbury’s posted sales growth of 5.9% and 6.8% respectively, with both companies increasing market share compared to last year.
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Discounters Lidl and Aldi posted sales growth of 9.1% and 2.8% respectively, although Aldi’s market share declined.
No. 3 player Asda was again the laggard, with sales falling 0.4% and its market share falling 60 basis points – a result that contrasted with the upbeat tone of its 2023 results released on Monday.
Kantar also noted that the share of online grocery sales reached 12.0% for the first time since July 2022.
UK supermarket market share and sales growth (%)
Market share Market share % change
12 to 12 weeks before sales
April 14 April 16 (annualized)
2024 2023
Tesco 27.4 27.0 5.9
Sainsbury’s 15.3 14.9 6.8
Asda 13.4 14.0 -0.4
Aldi 10.0 10.1 2.8
Morrisons 8.7 8.7 3.8
Lidl 8.0 7.6 9.1
Cooperative 5.4 5.7 -0.1
Waitrose 4.5 4.5 3.7
Iceland 2.2 2.2 3.7
Ocado 1.9 1.7 12.5
Source: Kantar