Grocery prices fell for the seventh straight month in September, bringing some much-needed relief to consumers in the run-up to Christmas, but food inflation is still in double figures.

Food inflation fell to 11% in the four weeks to October 1 – the lowest rate since July 2022, according to the latest figures from Kantar.

Take-home grocery sales over the same period rose 9.1% compared with last year, which Kantar strategic insight director Tom Steel said was attributable to falling prices.

“Grocery price inflation is still very high, but shoppers will be relieved to see the rate continuing to fall. For the first time since last year, the prices of some staple foods are now dropping and that’s helping to bring down the wider inflation rate,” he said.

“Dairy was one of the categories where costs really shot up last autumn but the average price paid for a 250g pack of butter is now 16p less than 12 months ago.”

Kantar also said the proportion of groceries bought on promotion increased to 26.5% in the latest 12-week period, the highest level seen since June 2022.

“Supermarkets are looking at all the different ways they can deliver value at the tills and while the emphasis for some time has been on everyday low prices, the retailers are starting to get the deal stickers out again,” said Steel.

 

Lidl was the fastest-growing grocer over the period, with sales increasing by 15.2%, marking the first time the discounter has led the pack since April 2023. Lidl increased its market share to 7.6% over the period, up 0.5 percentage points year on year.

Fellow discounter Aldi’s sales were up 14.9%, with its total share of the market hitting 9.9%, up 0.6 percentage points.

Tesco, benefiting from the growth in promotional sales, saw sales rise 9.2% over the period and edged its market share up 0.4 percentage points to 27.4%.

Sainsbury’s share grew to 14.8% as sales jumped 9.1% year on year. Asda and Morrisons now hold 13.7% and 8.6% of the market respectively.

Waitrose total online sales increased year-on-year for the first time since December 2021 by 3.1%, the same week it explored a partnership with Amazon for grocery delivery.

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