Price of cheddar, milk and eggs soars above UK headline inflation

The price of a cheese salad sandwich has risen by more than a third in a year, according to an analysis by the Financial Times of detailed official UK data released for the first time, highlighting how the cost of many staple foods have far outstripped headline inflation.

The new shopping prices comparison tool published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday showed the soaring cost of basic items such as sliced white bread and cheddar cheese in the 12 months since March last year, up 29 and 42 per cent respectively.

The price of some of the main salad fillings also far outstripped the level of headline inflation, currently at 10.1 per cent, with cucumber up 55 per cent and lettuce 39 per cent. Tomatoes were up 16 per cent, while butter rose by 30 per cent.

The increase in cost of most of the ingredients of the sandwich were well above the annual rate of food inflation, which reached 19.2 per cent in March, the highest rate in 45 years.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said the problem for struggling household is that many items seeing the biggest price pressures were “essential goods, meaning, unlike discretionary spending, they cannot be cut from the budget”.

She added: “Inflated shopping bills have a similar effect to a cut in wages, making individuals and households less well off by reducing the affordability of goods and services.”

The ONS found that two pints of semi-skimmed milk costs £1.33, or 39 per cent more than last year, while the price of a dozen eggs on average was up 32 per cent at £3.20.

The cost of a cooked English breakfast was up by more than a fifth over the year, with a 39 per cent jump in the price of baked beans, 23 per cent for bacon and 21 per cent for pork sausages. Wholemeal sliced bread was up 27 per cent, while mushrooms rose 7 per cent.

“The milk, cheese and eggs products category has recorded one of the highest annual inflation rates in groceries throughout the last year,” noted the ONS.

Some of the inflationary pressures reflect the energy-intensive nature of the dairy industry and the surge in the cost of feed and fertilisers in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The price of vegetables was affected by poor harvests in Europe and north Africa, which were replaced by more expensive produce from greenhouses in the UK and other northern European countries.

The ONS said that 95 per cent of the more than 450 items it tracks for the price comparison tool, which includes electronic goods and other consumer products such as clothing, had risen in price in the year to March.

Food grocery prices were rising particularly fast with 19 of the 25 items recording inflation of more than 30 per cent in that category. Cucumbers rose the most, followed by olive oil, up 49 per cent, and hard cheese, up 44 per cent.

Lalitha Try, economist at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said high food price inflation was “a major concern for poorer households in particular, as they spend a greater share of their income on essentials such as food”. She added that food insecurity can be “just as dangerous as fuel insecurity”.