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Daily Record

Lifestyle

Rachel Williams

'I repeated an Asda Just Essentials shop a year later - and these items were pricier'

Asda Inflation Tesco

Food prices are continuing to soar at their fastest ever rate, leaving many households across the UK grappling for ways to cut back on their weekly shopping.

Over the past year, inflation rates have soared to a 45-year high with basic grocery staples such as butter, eggs, olive oil and pasta seeing the biggest increase in price.

With that in mind, many shoppers, myself included, have been swapping out big-name brands for value products when we are at the supermarket. However, with the cost of living still soaring, there have been reports that even budget ranges are not immune to rising prices.

To see if this was really true, I decided to repeat my big shop from Asda back in August 2022 where I purchased nothing but items from their, at the time, newly launched Just Essentials range.

It is worth noting that inflation levels had soared to 9.4% in August last year, which was a record-high at the time. By the end of 2022, food inflation levels had reached 13.3% - so a significant increase.

One of the biggest price rises was on a packet of chicken breast fillets (Reach PLC/Daily Record)

So, it should really come as no surprise to me that when I repurchased the exact same items from Asda's budget range, more than half had jumped up in price over the past five months.

Out of the 21 items that were purchased, 13 of them had increased, while six remained the same and one of them actually, surprisingly, decreased in price.

Items that had increased in price varied from fresh fruit and vegetables to cupboard staples and meat, with increases ranging anywhere between an average of 10p - 49p.

Basic items such as coffee had also increased in price (Reach PLC/Daily Record)

One of the biggest increases that I found was on the Just Essentials Chicken Breast Fillets which, I will admit, were all individually priced depending on their weight. I did try and find one closest to the pack size I bought five months ago and the cheapest that I could get a hold of was one at £3.29 - which was 17.5% more expensive than the £2.80 I spent in August.

Other price increases included beef steak which is now up to £2.25 from £2 (12.5%), a packet of strawberries up to £1.49 from £1.19 (25%) and a bag of potatoes which was now up at £1.25 from just 99p (26%.)

It was also quite disappointing to find that quite a few cupboard and fridge staples had also jumped up in price, with strawberry jam now costing 40p from just 31p (29%), a jar of instant coffee up to 83p from 75p (10%) and naan breads going up to 59p from 50p (18%.)

I also found that simple items such as orange juice had risen by 16p (Reach PLC/Daily Record)

Lunches were also not left untouched by the increases either, as a cost of a packet of chicken roll for sandwiches now costs £1.60 up from £1.40 (14.2%.) Fresh fruit and vegetables had also increased with oranges now costing 70p from 60p (16.6%), a packet of peppers going up to £1.25 from £1.20 (4.1%) and green beans now priced at 90p from 84p (7.1%.)

In the end, a total of 13 items had increased in price, with six remaining the same price as back in August. The only item to actually drop in price was the boneless salmon portions, which were down to £3.43 from £3.86 - making it an 11.14% saving, which was quite a nice surprise.

The increases from my shopping represent a total 7.9% price increase from £25.82 in August 2022, to £27.88 this week. While I am glad to notice that there wasn't a major jump in price, it's still worrying to notice that it is not just branded items that are being impacted by inflation.

It is worth noting as well that, despite the slight increase in prices since August 2022, Asda has launched a few money-saving initiatives to help shoppers save money during the cost of living crisis. It recently unveiled its £20 budget meal plan that could feed a family of four for a week. The Asda Rewards app also has a brand new feature that gives members of the loyalty scheme more time to spend their vouchers they earn.

A spokesperson for Asda told the Daily Record: "We’re working hard to keep prices in check for customers and remain the lowest-priced major supermarket – a position recognised by Which? in their regular monthly basket comparison which has named Asda as the cheapest supermarket for a big shop every month for the last three years."