Meat, eggs and dairy prices hit record high as food inflation reaches 12.4%
Food inflation has surged to a new record of 12.4 per cent amid predictions of an ‘increasingly bleak’ winter.
And rising meat, egg and dairy prices forced fresh food inflation even higher to 14.3 per cent, from October’s 13.3 per cent.
Soaring energy, transport and animal feed costs threatened Christmas cheer as food bills rose ‘unabated’, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Overall shop prices are up 7.4 per cent year-on-year – another peak since the trade body’s records began in 2005.
Coffee costs have shot up, shows the BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index.
And ‘massive’ inflation in dairy has taken a £31million chunk out of cheddar cheese sales, prompting industry bosses to launch a campaign to stop the slide.
Richard Clothier, boss of cheesemaker Wyke Farms, told The Grocer: ‘We have managed before through recession and inflation, but not at the same time, so it is a real challenge. The situation is extremely worrying.’
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