UK food inflation: why your barbecue meat is becoming more expensive

Inflation has been rising in the meat aisles since the turn of the year. Photograph: Kerry Taylor/Alamy

The weather is not the only thing putting a dampener on impromptu barbecues as consumers balk at the soaring cost of burgers, sausages and chicken to put on the grill.

At nearly £4, a four-pack of supermarket own-label beef quarter-pounders costs 53%, or £1.37, more than this time last year, according to the price analysts Assosia. With steak and kebabs also off the menu because they are too pricey, Britons are switching to poultry.