The cost of junk food in supermarkets is rising by up to 60%, despite general food price increases starting to ease
- Pizza, chocolate and chips are the items that rose in price the fastest
- Most foods have fallen in price, data from ONS shows
- Basic household products such as butter have been reduced by as much as 50%
The price of junk food in supermarkets, such as pizza, chips and chocolate, is rising much faster than healthier options, hitting households looking to buy treats for their families.
The overall price of food rose 17.3 percent in the year to June 2023, up from 18.3 percent in May, according to the latest consumer price index (CPI) inflation data from the Office for National Statistics.
But if you dig into June’s price hikes for individual foods, it turns out that the cost of treats is rising faster than the previous month, while the price increase of most other items is starting to slow down.
For example, the price of pizza and quiche has risen by no less than 61 percent, that of chocolate by 45 percent and that of crisps by 9 percent.
Rising: The cost of junk food has risen by as much as 60%, new ONS figures show, while most other food price rises are starting to ease
Jams, syrups and confectionery are up 18 percent and soft drinks 19 percent.
The reason why items such as chocolate, jam and syrups are on the rise is largely due to rising sugar prices.
Due to shortages and bad weather in many sugar-producing regions, such as Europe, Brazil and Thailand, sugar prices are at their highest in 10 years.
This in turn drives up the prices of food and drinks that use a lot of sugar.
Harvir Dhillon, an economist at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: ‘Sugar prices have risen in recent months. Most recently, they were hit by production bottlenecks in key producing countries.
“As a result, lower sugar export opportunities were not enough to meet strong global demand.”
A BRC spokesperson said the organization has no data on why chips, pizza and quiche prices are rising so fast.
However, this could also be due to price increases for the ingredients needed to make them.
Oil and cheese prices have seen some of the strongest price increases of any food item during the cost-of-living crisis.
The price of frying oils and fats rose by 23.1 percent in the year to June 2023. Similarly, potato prices rose by 19.1 percent in the same period.
Meanwhile, cheese has increased in price by 25.1 percent, while flour used to make pizza bases has increased by 17.6 percent.