Supermarket prices still rising despite slowing inflation, Which? finds
Supermarket bills are still climbing in many aisles even though the headline rate of food inflation has cooled, fresh research from consumer group Which? suggests.
According to the Mirror, annual inflation for supermarket food and drink dropped to 3.1% in the three months to the end of May 2026. That is a slower pace than households have endured for much of the past two years, yet it is still adding pounds to the weekly shop.
The Which? findings indicate that the slowdown is not being felt evenly across the trolley. Certain everyday items are still going up sharply at the till, while others have begun to drift back down toward where they sat before the cost-of-living squeeze took hold.
Consumer experts point out that a 3.1% headline figure can mask big swings inside individual baskets. Branded staples, fresh produce and own-label basics often move at very different speeds, which is why two families with similar shopping lists can see very different totals at the end of the month.
For households already stretched by energy costs, council tax and rent, even a modest monthly rise on bread, milk or tea quickly adds up over the course of a year. Many shoppers say they are now switching brands, downshifting to value ranges or driving further afield to cheaper stores to keep their weekly spend in check.
The slowdown does carry wider implications. Lower food inflation tends to feed through into the Bank of England's overall measure of prices, which in turn shapes decisions on whether interest rates can be eased further in the months ahead.
Which? is urging shoppers to compare unit prices on shelf labels, watch for shrinkflation where packet sizes quietly fall, and rely on supermarket loyalty card prices only where they offer genuine savings rather than artificially marked-down deals.
The research is the latest reminder that while official figures are heading in the right direction, the family weekly shop has not yet returned to the levels many shoppers remember from before the squeeze began.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
