Coffee prices jump as food inflation hits new high

Food prices rose at a record rate in the year to November, with meat, eggs, dairy and coffee climbing particularly sharply, new data shows.

Food inflation hit 12.4%, up from 11.6% in October, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The rocketing cost of energy, animal feed and transport were behind the rise, it said.

BRC boss Helen Dickinson said winter looked "increasingly bleak" as price pressures continued "unabated".

The war in Ukraine and Covid have driven up the price of food, energy and fuel over the last year, affecting consumers and businesses alike.

The BRC's index showed that overall shop price annual inflation accelerated to 7.4% in November, up from 6.6% in October. This is the fastest rate since the index began in 2005.

It added that surging food prices were largely to blame, with fresh food prices up by 14.3%, compared with 13.3% in October.

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Ms Dickinson said: "Winter looks increasingly bleak as pressures on prices continue unabated. Food prices have continued to soar, especially for meat, eggs and dairy, which have been hit by rocketing energy costs, and rising costs of animal feed and transport.

"Coffee prices also shot up on last month as high input costs filtered through to price tags," she added.

"Christmas gifting is also set to become more expensive than in previous years, with sports and recreation equipment seeing particularly high increases."

She said there were signs that cost pressures, and price rises, might start to ease next year, but "Christmas cheer will be dampened this year as households cut back on seasonal spending in order to prioritise the essentials".

Mike Watkins of NielsenIQ, which carried out the research, said that with prices still rising shoppers would be managing their Christmas budgets "more closely than at any time since the start of cost-of-living crisis"

In response, retailers were offering seasonal savings and price cuts in an effort to encourage shoppers to spend "as we move into December ", he added.

The most recent official figures showed food prices rising at their fastest rate for 45 years, with the cost of basics such as milk, cheese and eggs surging.

The Office for National Statistics found food price inflation in the year to October hit 16.2%, up from 14.5% in September.