Cost of a family fry up breakfast rises amid surging food inflation
The cost of an average family fry up breakfast has increased sharply as food inflation rose at its fastest rate in 13 years.
Researchers at analytics firm Kantar revealed grocery price inflation reached 7% over the past four weeks to mark the highest level since May 2009 and pushing many into a cost of living crisis.
The cost of typical items used in an English breakfast, including toast, eggs, sausages, bacon and beans, rose by 40p.
Dog food, savoury snacks and fresh meat saw particularly sharp price rises, although spirit prices slipped for the month, according to the figures.
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Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “People are really feeling the squeeze at the supermarket tills and they’re having to stretch their budgets further to accommodate rising prices.
“To put the most recent numbers into context, if you were picking up supplies for a family fry-up over the long weekend with toast, eggs, sausages, bacon and beans it would cost you £6.83 – that’s a significant 40p increase on last year.”
The latest figures also reported that supermarket sales dropped by 4.4% over the 12 weeks to 15 May.
It reflected a softer decline than previous periods, with sales over the last four weeks only down 1.7%.
The research firm said it represented the strongest month since Christmas.
McKevitt added there are already signs that UK households are spending money ahead of the Platinum Jubilee weekend.
Prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak are under intense pressure to act after Consumer Prices Index inflation soared to 9% in the year to April, up from 7% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The rise in CPI was the fastest measured rate since records began in 1989, and the ONS estimates it was the highest since 1982.
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Kantar's survey found that 22% of households are “struggling” to make ends meet, with the rising price of the weekly shop a concern for more than nine in 10 of these people.
It found a third of consumers now think of themselves as being in a “comfortable” financial situation, while 22% said they were “struggling”.
Meanwhile, the energy price cap is expected to increase by a further £830 to £2,800 in October, the head of Ofgem said as charity National Energy Action (NEA) warned the hike will plunge households into a “deep, deep crisis”.
Adam Scorer, chief executive of NEA, said: “Ofgem’s warning that the price cap will rise again by over £800 in October will strike terror into the hearts of millions of people already unable to heat and power their homes.
“It will plunge households into deep, deep crisis. The financial, social and health impacts are unthinkable.”
Economic think tank The Resolution Foundation said almost 10 million households could find themselves in “fuel stress” this winter if Ofgem’s prediction comes true.
