Belfast shopowners have said that food price inflation is currently sitting at around 20% and warned that further increases are likely to take place in the coming months.
Over the past year prices have been steadily increasing in the shops due to a number of factors such as rising energy costs, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine.
This has seen everyday items such as milk, cheese, butter, bread, cooking oil, crisps and chocolate go up in price from January 2022 to 2023.
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Items such as butter and cooking oils have almost doubled in price over the course of the year, while others are on average 20% more expensive than the year before.
The UK inflation rate at the end of 2022 was 10.5%.
This is the precentage increse of prices on a number of popular products from January 2022 to 2023:
- Milk 2L: 39%
- Golden Cow butter: 75.8%
- Hovis bread: 60.5%
Nambarrie tea: 9.7%
Crisp n Dry: 59.1%
Mayonnaise (squeezy): 93.1%
Rice: 20%
Ham: 25%
Cheese: 20%
Potatoes: 60.4%
Eggs: 64.2%
Chocolate: 25%
A Belfast shop owner said that the industry is doing all that it can to keep prices as low as possible for consumers, but as they increase from their suppliers, these extra costs will be passed on eventually.
They also warned that the coming months could see prices rise even further due to the increase in the Living Wage, rates increases and a lack of support to help with rising energy costs.
They said: "We have been doing all that we can to keep prices as low as possible for our customers but it is getting to a point where this will no longer be sustainable and we are under more and more pressure to increase prices further in the coming months.
"With rates increasing and the new Living Wage being introduced in April it is very likely that prices will go up again then, unless we are able to get the support that is needed to help us, because it could get to a point where customers will just not be able to afford it. Energy support schemes for commercial premises are just not going far enough to meet the costs.
"Food inflation is sitting at roughly 20% compared to last year and I worry that this will only get worse as the year goes on, and that increases to the Living Wage could contribute to this as well as shops see there overheads rise overnight.
"If something is not done soon to provide the retail sector with more support, we are going to see businesses close because if prices keep going up, then customers will eventually stop coming."
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