British grocery price inflation rose to 4.7 per cent for the four weeks to June 15, its highest level since February last year, dealing another blow for low-income households, data from market researcher Kantar showed on Tuesday.

The figure, which compared to 4.1 per cent in last month’s report, was driven by price rises in products such as chocolate, butter and meat, Kantar said.

Market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) said earlier this month that new employer taxes and regulatory costs were adding to inflationary pressure at a time when commodity prices were rising.

Industry researcher the Institute of Grocery Distribution has forecast that food inflation could hit nearly 5 per cent this year.

Data from Asda and the Centre for Economics and Business Research, published on Monday, showed that while average real disposable income is rising in the UK, the lowest-earning 40 per cent now have less spending power than they did in 2021.

“Consumer concerns over price are continuing, and this is reflected in the figures. Sales of own label ranges grew at 4.2 per cent this month, ahead of branded lines, as shoppers looked to balance their budgets,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said.

Kantar said grocery sales in value terms increased 4.1 per cent year-on-year over the four weeks, helped by warm weather.

However, it said when inflation was taken into account grocery volumes fell 0.4 per cent – the first year-on-year decline this year.

Tesco, number two player Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L), discounter Lidl and online supermarket Ocado (OCDO.L) were the standout performers over the 12 weeks to June 15 with year-on-year sales gains of 7.0 per cent, 5.7 per cent, 11.2 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively.

Number three player Asda remained the industry laggard with a sales decline of 1.7 per cent, though its performance is on an improving trend.

Kantar said spending on groceries at cyberattack hit Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) rose 12.0 per cent, though the retailer is not included in its market share data set.