CORRECTED UK grocery inflation higher again as countdown to Christmas begins
Corrects second bullet point and paragraph 6 after Kantar corrected its release to state UK grocery sales rose 2.3% over the four weeks to Nov. 3, not 2.0%
Grocery inflation 2.3% in four weeks to Nov. 3, says Kantar
UK grocery sales up 2.3% in period
Some consumers starting Christmas shopping early
Ocado and Lidl are fastest growing UK grocers
Asda remains the laggard
By James Davey
LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) -British shoppers faced renewed pressure on their budgets in October after grocery price inflation edged higher for the second month in a row, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 2.3% in the four weeks to Nov. 3, having been 2.0% in the previous four-week period.
The data showed prices are rising fastest in products such as chilled soft drinks and chocolate confectionery, and falling fastest in items such as toothbrushes, household paper products and sparkling wine.
UK supermarkets have warned that tax rises in the new Labour government's first budget last month, together with another rise in the national minimum wage, will be inflationary.
Official data published last month showed overall UK inflation eased to 1.7% in September. Data for October will be published Nov. 20.
Kantar said grocery sales rose 2.3% over the four week period year-on-year to 11.6 billion pounds ($14.9 billion) - the biggest sales month of the year so far.
The researcher said there were signs that some consumers were starting their Christmas shopping early. It noted that 648,000 shoppers have already bought a Christmas cake, while 14.4% of households purchased mince pies in October.
Over the 12 weeks to Nov. 3 online supermarket Ocado OCDO.L was again the fastest growing grocer with sales up 9.5% year-on-year, taking its market share to 1.8%.
Industry leader Tesco TSCO.L saw sales growth of 4.6% and its market share rose 60 basis points to hit 27.9%.
Sales at No. 2 Sainsbury's SBRY.L rose 4.4% but No. 3 Asda was again the laggard, with its sales down 5.5% and it lost 1 percentage point of market share year-on-year.
Last week, Asda chairman Stuart Rose said the grocer had "lost the plot" but the business was fixable.
Kantar said discounters Aldi and Lidl saw sales growth of 1.6% and 7.4% respectively.
UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)
Market share 12 wks to Nov. 3 2024 | Market share 12 wks to Nov. 5 2023 | % change in sales (yr-on-yr) | |
Tesco | 27.9 | 27.3 | 4.6 |
Sainsbury's | 15.5 | 15.2 | 4.4 |
Asda | 12.5 | 13.5 | -5.5 |
Aldi | 10.4 | 10.4 | 1.6 |
Morrisons | 8.6 | 8.6 | 2.4 |
Lidl | 7.7 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
Co-operative | 5.7 | 5.9 | -2.1 |
Waitrose | 4.6 | 4.5 | 2.9 |
Iceland | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
Ocado | 1.8 | 1.7 | 9.5 |
Source: Kantar
($1 = 0.7810 pounds)
Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Alison Williams
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