Reporter Dianne Bourne "could have almost fainted" when she returned to Morrisons to do her weekly "big shop". Comparing prices from a year ago, she was left incredulous at the rises.
Here is her account from the visit, as reported in the Manchester Evening News:
"We all know food prices are on the rise, but when I headed out to do a comparison of my weekly 'big shop' at one of the UK's biggest supermarkets from a year ago, I could have almost fainted. Armed with my receipt from November last year (and the year before as it happens), I headed to Morrisons to see how sharply prices have risen on a range of groceries.
"I knew it would show up some big price rises, but when I crunched the numbers it was grim. I was actually left pretty staggered to think of how much extra I'm now paying every week for my family-of-four food shop.
"The price rises have been creeping up over the past two years and nationally inflation is said to be hovering around 10% year-on-year. But looking at my haul, with many prices up by 20%, or even higher on some items, was all in all a bit of a shocker.
"And just to give you an idea of how quickly the price rises are happening, when I went to do the physical shop this week, a number of items had risen in price just days after I had checked them online. A Morrisons medium chicken that was priced at £4.15 online on Monday was priced at £4.39 in store by Wednesday, and the steak beef mince was priced at £3.49 online on Monday, but priced at £3.69 in the physical store on Wednesday.
"I raised this issue of price difference online and in store with Morrisons - and all of the items I mentioned have now increased in price online to reflect those in store. A spokesperson said: 'With regards to online prices versus in store, for the vast majority of products they should be exactly the same and we have picked up with the store about the examples you flagged.'
"I also asked Morrisons about the increase in prices from November 2021 to September 2022 that amounted to over £11 more - showing them the full list of my shopping. They said that because I returned in September, rather than November, it wasn't a 'fair comparison'."
A spokesperson said: "As the time periods are not the same, it is very hard to do a fair comparison as there are a number of factors that may mean the prices differ. These include seasonal pricing on our fresh produce and also promotions.
"We are also facing an unprecedented period of inflation and are doing everything we can to keep prices down for our customers, including leveraging our own manufacturing operations."
The milk and dairy products in particular showed sharp price rises. Here is a three-way breakdown of prices over three years.
British whole milk 2 pints - 80p (2020) - 89p (2021) - £1.25 (2022).
Grated mature cheddar - £1.69 (2020) - £2.00 (2021) - £2.49 (2022).
Longley Farm cottage cheese - £1.35 (2020) - £1.35 (2021) - £1.49 (2022).
Dairylea Lunchables - £1.00 (2020) - £1.00 (special offer down from £1.50) (2021) - £1.25 (special offer down from £1.55) - (2022).
Peppa Pig fromage frais - £1.00 (2020) - £1.00 (2021) - £1.00 (2022).
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