Thread: Family food shopping bill goes up by £50 ($100.00) in a mon

From The Times
July 10, 2008

Family food shopping bill goes up by £50 ($100.00) in a month

Gráinne Gilmore

Food prices rose at the fastest pace for 18 months in June, pushing up the cost of shopping for families by more than £50 in one month alone.

The cost of groceries rose by 1 per cent last month and is now 7 per cent higher than in June last year, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show.

The average yearly food bill for a family of four is now £360 more than this time last year.

Shoppers who buy curries or pasta dishes will be hit harder, as the cost of some popular items have risen by far more than the average. The cost of a 1kg (2lb 2oz) bag of basmati rice has nearly doubled over the past year, according to mysupermarket.com, the supermarket price comparison site, while the cost of a 500g bag of fusilli pasta has risen by more than 110 per cent, or 42p.

A loaf of white bread is now 20 per cent more costly at 65p, while the price of butter has risen by 62 per cent.

Stephen Robertson, the director-general of the BRC, said that the average increase in food prices was modest compared with agricultural prices, which have risen between 60 and 80 per cent over the past year.

“Although their own costs are going up, food retailers are running high-profile price cuts and promotions.

They are keeping prices to customers down by cutting costs and increasing sales,â€

Yeah, the price of boneless chicken tenderloin filets are over 6 bucks a lb! What to do???? I actually saw a lady buy several packs of these and then pay for the whole cartload with a WIC card. Rarel will you see "Wic" card users buying anything "sensible." Food is one thing where people can adjust, unless they are already "adjusted" out. I hardly ever buy anything that isn't on sale or I have a double coupon for and very little name brand stuff.