Dairy items have seen some of the biggest price hikes in recent months, but are being trimmed in cost at Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s this week announced that it was slashing the cost of around 40 own-brand dairy products in a bid to support shoppers during the cost of living crisis.
These aren’t just small cuts either, with some prices dropping by as much as 60%.
The supermarket giant noted that the commodity prices it pays for milk had started to fall, and so it wanted to pass those savings on to its shoppers, particularly given the persistently high rate of food price inflation at the moment.
Examples of products to see sizeable cuts include fat-free natural yoghurt, which has dropped from £1 to 40p and 250g of light soft cheese, which has moved from £2 to £1.20.
300ml of double cream has dropped by almost a third, from £1.65 to £1.15, while 300g of fat-free cottage cheese has moved to £1.30 from £1.85.
Battling over the basics
This round of price cuts is just the latest in a round of battles among the big supermarkets over what we have to pay for the basic products that tend to crop up each week in our grocery shopping.
We have previously had all of the big names announcing cuts to the price of their own milk, as well as try to outdo each other on reductions to bread and butter.
It’s a good demonstration of how the supermarkets are trying to win our favour, recognising that the cost of these ‘must buys’ will be a big factor for many people when determining where to shop each week.
Rocketing dairy prices
However, it’s worth noting that it’s dairy products that have seen some of the most striking price increases over the last year.
Which? carries out a monthly food price tracker, monitoring the cost of thousands of products at all of the main supermarkets.
And it’s divided up those items into categories to highlight which types of foods have been at the forefront of food price inflation.
Here’s how the top 10 looked for April (the most recent data available).
|
Food or drink category |
Quarterly inflation to end of April |
Monthly inflation to end of April |
|
Milk |
24.2% |
22.9% |
|
Yoghurts |
21% |
21.8% |
|
Butters and spreads |
23.5% |
21.6% |
|
Water |
19% |
20.3% |
|
Cakes and cookies |
19% |
19.4% |
|
Bakery |
20.2% |
19.3% |
|
Juice drinks and smoothies |
16.1% |
17.9% |
|
Crisps |
17.6% |
17.7% |
|
Biscuits |
17.1% |
17.2% |
|
Fish |
15.6% |
16.5% |
As you can see, the top three spots on both a monthly and quarterly basis are taken up by dairy products.
Little wonder that supermarkets want to highlight price cuts here in order to appeal to shoppers.
Shopping around for savings
If you are looking to save money, no matter what it is you’re looking to buy, then shopping around is always a smart tactic.
That way you are better informed about what constitutes a good deal.
And the signs are that plenty of us are doing just that when it comes to our supermarket shopping.
With food price inflation at its highest level since the 1970s, shoppers aren’t just carrying on regardless, but taking the opportunity to switch to a rival supermarket that may offer better value for money overall.
The latest market share data from Kantar World Panel shows that all of the big names have dropped in share since Christmas.
Tesco for example has moved from 27.5% to 27.1%, Sainsbury’s has fallen from 15.5% to 14.8%, Asda has slid from 14% to 13.9%, and Morrisons has dropped from 9.1% to 8.7%.
Contrast that with the performance of the deep discounters, the brands that are associated with cheaper prices.
Aldi for example has seen its share move from 9.1% to 10,1%, establishing it as the fourth biggest supermarket in the land, while Lidl’s has grown from 7.2% to 7.7%.
It seems pretty clear that shoppers are increasingly likely to move from one of the big names and at least give the discounters a go, in order to make their money stretch further on their food shopping.