Tesco shopper stunned at food price rises after finding old 1997 receipt

The entire grocery bill was only £27.26 and a far cry from the soaring grocery bills in 2023

People are shocked at the cheap price for groceries as costs today continue to spiral (PA Wire)

An old Tesco receipt from 1997 has been unearthed and people are shocked at the price of groceries.

Some of the items include Weetabix for just 65p, mayonnaise costing 49p and cat food coming in at just 48p.

There is also a mystery item listed which is priced at £10.99, but even with this luxury purchase the bill is only £27.26 in total.

Without the mystery item, that has been scrubbed out from the receipt, the shopping would come to just £16.27.

Posting about the receipt, Reddit user Steezme1234 said they found the bill from a branch in Bury St Edmunds after buying a cassette tape and found that it was 26 years old.

They wrote: "Bought an old cassette today and found a receipt inside, looked down and saw the date was 25/07/1997, 26 years ago today!"

People reacted to the post in disbelief at the price of the items.

Scorch762 said: "53p for butter?!"

ModoTheGardener said: "65p for Weetabix, what a time to be alive."

Heavy_Two said: "I've been through the list and added all the items to my Tesco basket online to see how much it would cost these days.

Some of the items include Weetabix for just 65p (Reddit - Steezme1234)

"For those of you wondering, the total came to £60.13."

While J---O---E joked: "No. 26 years ago was the 80s, right?"

According to the Bank Of England inflation calculator, the bill in today's currency would cost £50.66.

This is well below the average cost of a weekly shop in the UK today.

According to Which?, in July 2023 Aldi was the cheapest supermarket with an average basket price of £71.22, while Tesco was £79.59 and Waitrose was £87.24.

It comes as the UK is experiencing some of its highest inflation for decades.

Also, supermarkets have been accused of "profiteering" by ramping up the price of some goods unnecessarily. Supermarket bosses have denied these claims.

The cost of living increased sharply across the UK from 2021 and 2022 with the annual rate of inflation reaching 11.1% in October 2022 - a 41-year-high - but it has since eased as in June 2023 it was 7.9%.

High inflation affects the affordability of goods and services for households.

Inflation in the 90s was significantly lower than now and in 1997 was just 3.14%.