FDBusiness.com

UK food inflation fell to 4.0% in March from 4.5% in February, according to the BRC-Nielsen Shop Index. Non-food inflation slowed marginally to 1.5% from 1.6% in February and overall shop price inflation slowed to 2.4% in March from 2.7% the previous month.

”Global commodities are still exerting considerable upward pressure on retailers’ costs, but a greater intensity of promotions has led to a fall in year-on-year food inflation which will come as a great relief to hard-pressed families. Over the shorter term, food was actually cheaper in March than February,” comments Stephen Robertson, director general of British Retail Consortium. “It’s a clear demonstration of competition in the retail sector keeping costs down for shoppers. The proportion of groceries going through the tills on promotion has reached a new all-time high of 40 per cent.”

Mike Watkins, senior manager, Retailer Services, Nielsen, remarks: “After almost a year of commodity and other inflationary costs progressively pushing up shop prices, its good to see the pace of retail price increases slow a little. However it’s too soon to say that the worst is behind us as retail sales have weakened across both food and non-food in recent weeks as shoppers react to falling disposable income. Retailers have had to respond with even more offers and discounts as the cost of living remains one of the top concerns of shoppers.”