A survey of pricing in stores on Tuesday suggested they dropped between April and May, providing evidence that the quickly rising increase in food costs may have peaked.
Inflation rates for food decreased to 15.4% in the year to May, according to a survey by Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
In April, it had dropped from 15.7%.
A person who spent about £20 on groceries a year ago would now pay just over £23 for the same products, which is still a shockingly high amount.
The precise number would depend on what they purchased as this is an average.
Although the May figure is a little less than the April food inflation rate, the BRC reported that it is still the second-fastest annual increase it has ever recorded.
In May, the price of fresh food rose by 17.2%, down from the previous month’s 17.8% increase, it was stated.
However, ambient food inflation, which refers to products that can be kept at room temperature and are shelf-stable, increased from 12.9% in April to 13.1% in May.
The BRC said that during April and May, overall retail inflation increased to an all-time high of 9%.
“While overall shop price inflation rose slightly in May, households will welcome food inflation beginning to fall,” said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
“The slow in inflation was largely driven by lower energy and commodity costs starting to filter through to lower prices of some staples including butter, milk, fruit and fish.
“Conversely, the price of chocolate and coffee rose off the back of the ongoing high global costs for these commodities. While non-food inflation rose, consumers are benefiting from heavy discounts in footwear as well as books and home entertainment.
“Fierce competition between supermarkets has helped keep British food among the cheapest of the large European economies.
“While there is reason to believe that food inflation might be peaking, it is vital that Government does not hamper this early progress by piling more costs onto retailers and forcing up the cost of goods even further.
“The biggest risk comes from policies such as the incoming border checks and reforms to packaging recycling fees.”
Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ, said: “To help mitigate the impact of inflation, shoppers are saving money by looking for seasonal promotions on the high street and taking advantage of the price reductions offered by supermarket loyalty schemes.
“Food retailing in particular is competitive, so hopefully the recent price cuts in fresh foods is a sign that inflation has now peaked, albeit ambient inflation may take a little while longer to slow.”
