Grocery price inflation in the UK jumped to 4.1% in the past month – the highest level since February 2024 – driven by the rising cost of butter, chocolate and sun cream, as Britons fired up the barbecue during a warm spring.
Shoppers are increasingly searching out discount deals and turning to supermarket own-label products to help manage their budgets, according to analysts at Kantar, as the pace of price rises stepped up from the 3.8% reported in April.
Fraser McKevitt, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Households have been adapting their buying habits to manage budgets for some time, but we typically see changes in behaviour once inflation tips beyond the 3% to 4% point as people notice the impact on their wallets more.”
The discounter chains benefited from the search for bargains, with Aldi and Lidl enjoying their strongest period of combined growth since January 2024 at 8.4%.
Lidl’s sales rose almost 11%, making it the fastest growing physical grocer, to reach a new market share high of 8.1% – putting it within a whisker of overtaking Morrisons to become the UK’s fifth largest supermarket.
The chain drew 419,000 extra shoppers through its doors compared with last year – the most of any retailer.
Aldi also reached a record high share of the market at 11.1% after sales rose 6.7%, its fastest growth rate since the start of last year.
In contrast, Asda continued to struggle, remaining the only supermarket to record a drop in sales, down 3.2%. Despite this being its best performance in a year, its market share fell to 12.1%, only one percentage point more than Aldi.
The chain was outperformed by the upmarket rival Marks & Spencer, where spending on groceries rose by 12.3% despite its recent difficulties caused by a cyber-attack.
The Co-op increased its sales by 0.6% despite similar problems that have hit the availability of products in stores.
Overall spending rose slightly ahead of inflation as shoppers snapped up burgers, salads and coleslaw during the hottest ever start to May.
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McKevitt said: “We’ve been firing up the barbecues a bit earlier than last year, with chilled burgers flying off the shelves and sales growing by 27%.”
The warm spring also helped sales at the DIY chain B&Q. The group’s owner, Kingfisher, said sales at established B&Q stores rose almost 8% in the three months to 30 April, helped by “strong seasonal sales”, such as garden plants and furniture, as well as growth in big-ticket items, such as kitchens.
The stronger-than-expected figures – the chain’s best growth figures since 2021 during the pandemic boom in DIY and gardening – suggested that consumer confidence is holding up in the UK despite fears about the wider economy. However, Kingfisher said “sentiment remains mixed” across its markets, which include France and Poland as well as the UK.
