UK inflation: Households pay £21.31 more for food so far in 2017

The larger supermarkets have been struggling with the rise of their cut-price rivals and that trend continued in the most recent period

The German discounters now account collectively for 11.7 per cent of the UK grocery marke (Getty)

UK grocery inflation rose by 2.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 26 March, costing the average household £21.31 more than during the same period last year, industry data showed on Tuesday.

The figures from Kantar Worldpanel, showed that falling prices for things like crisps, bacon, chocolate and fresh poultry were only partially able to offset rises in the cost of butter, fish, tea and skincare products.

“We expect inflation to continue to accelerate, and as a result we’re likely to see consumers looking for cheaper alternatives,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said.

He added that cheaper own-label supermarket groceries would likely be the beneficiaries of this.

The larger supermarkets have for several years been struggling with the rise of their cut-price rivals and that trend continued in the most recent period with both Lidl and Aldi reaching new record high market shares.

The German discounters now account collectively for 11.7 per cent of the UK grocery market, according to the to the latest figures from Kantar.

Lidl grew sales by 15 per cent during the period, becoming the fastest growing retailer and increasing its share of the market by half a percentage points to 4.9 per cent. Aldi grew sales by 14.3 per cent, taking its shares to 6.8 per cent.

An ongoing programme of store openings by both retailers meant that the two together attracted an additional 1.1 million customers over the past 12 weeks, according to Kantar.

Among the so-called big four, Morrisons was the only supermarket to grow sales during the 12 weeks, with a 0.3 per cent rise. Sales in Britain’s biggest supermarkets were down 0.4 per cent. Sainsbury's dropped by 0.7 per cent and Asda fell 1.8 per cent.