Food costs elevated by a document annual charge of 15.7% final month as strain continues to mount on family funds.

Fresh meals costs noticed a document soar of 17.8% year-on-year for April, whereas the worth of ambient merchandise, similar to tinned items and different store-cupboard gadgets, went up 12.9%.

The newest figures come as the common worth of meals and non-alcoholic drinks within the UK has been seeing its sharpest increase in more than 45 years.

According to the most recent BRC-NielsenIQ store worth index, store costs went up 8.8% final month in comparison with the identical interval within the earlier 12 months.

This determine was barely down from 8.9% in March and adopted spring discounting at style and furnishings shops.

It got here as non-food shops recorded inflation of 5.5% for the month, slipping from 5.9% in March as retailers diminished costs in a bid to draw clients.

Helen Dickinson, chief govt of the British Retail Consortium, stated: "Overall shop price inflation eased slightly in April due to heavy spring discounting in clothing, footwear and furniture.

"However, meals costs remained elevated given ongoing value pressures all through the provision chain.

"The knock-on impact from elevated manufacturing and packaging prices meant that prepared meals grew to become dearer and occasional costs have been additionally up because of the excessive value of espresso beans, in addition to key producer nations exporting much less.

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"Meanwhile, the price of butter and vegetable oils started to come down as retailers passed on cost savings from further up the supply chain."

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and enterprise perception at NielsenIQ, stated: "In recent weeks, more retailers have used loyalty schemes or money off promotions to help stimulate sales.

"However, with inflation but to peak and gross sales volumes in decline in lots of channels, it is troublesome to second guess the energy of client confidence."

The Trussell Trust charity not too long ago reported a record near-three million emergency food parcels were handed out at meals banks within the 12 months to March as extra households continued to wrestle with payments and meals prices.

The variety of meals parcels offered for kids topped a million for the primary time.