Grocery price inflation eased to its lowest rate for 15 months, reaching 11% for the four weeks to 1 October 2023, with the price of butter down 16 pence compared with this time last year.
It is the seventh consecutive decline in the rate of price rises since the figure peaked at 17.5% in March, providing relief for families amid the cost of living crisis.
Sales of brands on offer hit their highest rate since January, helping sales grow by 7.3% and narrowing the gap with the 10.1% growth of own-label lines.
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Kantar’s latest grocery healthcheck revealed that that Lidl was the fastest-growing retailer in the 12 weeks to 1 October as its sales rose 15.2% in the period to give it a market share of 7.6%.
Meanwhile, fellow discounter Aldi’s sales were up by 14.9% which means its total share of the market is now at 9.9%.
Sainsbury’s share grew to 14.8% as its sales rose by 9.1% while Tesco’s share is 27.4% after sales growth of 9.2% while Asda and Morrisons now hold 13.7% and 8.6% of the market following respective sales uplifts of 2.9% and 2.1%.
Kantar strategic insight director Tom Steel said: “Grocery price inflation is still very high, but shoppers will be relieved to see the rate continuing to fall. For the first time since last year, the prices of some staple foods are now dropping and that’s helping to bring down the wider inflation rate.
“Dairy was one of the categories where costs really shot up last autumn but the average price paid for a 250g pack of butter is now 16 pence less than 12 months ago.”
It comes as separate data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor revealed today that retail sales growth slowed last month as mild weather and the cost of living hit the sector.
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