Food prices soar in April
The rising cost of food kept annual shop price inflation steady in April, easily offsetting a drop in the price of non-food items, a new survey has shown.
Shop prices grew 0.1% last month and were 1.2% more than April 2007, said the British Retail Consortium, the seventh month in a row they've come in between 1% and 1.3%.
The figures showed food prices rose 0.7% in April versus a flat read in March, lifting the annual increase to 4.7% from 4.1%.
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But BRC director general Stephen Robertson said non-food prices, down 0.2% in April and 0.6% on a year ago, are falling faster than at any time since September.
"This has mainly been driven by discounting of electricals, which are 5% cheaper than a year ago," he said.
"Whilst there is higher inflation in many dairy and cereal-based categories, shoppers continue to benefit from retailer competition and supply chain efficiencies which are keeping increases as low as possible for as long as possible," added Mike Watkins, senior manager, retailer services at Nielsen, which helps put together the report.
