Food prices are certainly still rising, but consumers can take heart from the fact that a record number of promotions in the big supermarkets are at least taking the edge off the pain when it comes to the weekly shop.

The latest figures from The Grocer Price Index, the comprehensive tracker of food prices compiled for The Grocer by BrandView.co.uk, show that the actual amount people are paying for their groceries was 3% higher at the end of April than it was at the same time last year. Excluding deals and offers, ­inflation would have hit 4%.

The Grocer Price Index monitors the cost of both branded and own-label food and drink items across all the major grocery categories in the big four. The findings show that even with the promotions stripped out, food price inflation is not actually as high as the figures that were announced this week by the British Retail Consortium, which put it at 4.7%.

Despite the continued upward pressure on wheat prices, bakery is the only category in which prices are lower than they were a year ago. Prices across the bakery category are 2% lower than last April, suggesting heavy promotional ­activity by the leading ­retailers.

Another surprising category was fruit and veg. There has been a great deal of speculation recently that some consumers from poorer backgrounds are being priced out of eating healthily as their spending power reduces.

However, according to the GPI, the base price for fruit and veg has climbed by just 1% in the past year and after taking into ­account the impact of deals, the prices actually showed no ­increase at all.

The category that climbed the most was tobacco at 11%, not surprising given the impact of the VAT rise and the subsequent tax increase handed down in the recent Budget. Chilled food was the second-biggest climber, up 7%. This was closely followed by baby care and soft drinks, which were both 6% more expensive than they were a year ago.

Asda and Sainsbury’s were both 2% more expensive than they were a year ago, Tesco was 3% more and Morrisons posted the biggest price increase 5%.

Topics