United Kingdom-Sharp increase in Food prices despite recession

The cost of filling the average shopping trolley with basic items has soared, according to newly released figures.

A weekly shop for basics and supermarkets’ most frequently bought items now costs 12% more than it did this time last year - rising from £76.88 to £86.33.

Some items have undergone particularly sharp increases, with the average price for 500g of fresh beef mince now £2.13, up 56% from £1.37.

A packet of pork sausages increased by 50%, from £1.32 to £1.97, while supermarkets’ own label chopped tomatoes were 33p, up 57% from 21p.

The prices of items in the nation’s average trolley were based on the thousands of orders handled by the comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk.

By averaging prices at Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda for groceries and non-food items, researchers said they could avoid "anomalies" caused by special offers to show the underlying cost of shopping.

They also compile a food inflation index based on prices for all the food and drinks products sold in those three supermarkets, which showed a 4.7% increase for the past year.

That price increase was significantly smaller than that for the average trolley, demonstrating that it is everyday staple products which have undergone the most "drastic" rises in recent months, according to researchers.

Jonny Steel, spokesman for mySupermarket, said: "To combat these prices, shoppers need to keep track of the best offers and shop around."

Researchers found just a handful of items dropped in price over the past year, including loose bananas - down to 71p per kilogram from 77p - and Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, which were on average 6p cheaper for a 750g box at £2.30.

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