Even necessities like milk, butter, cheese, eggs, and dog food saw significant price increases.
The report says that grocery price growth is at its highest since the firm started tracking the figures in 2008, adding nearly £800 ($1,000) to the typical annual shopping bill and forcing households to change their shopping habits to save costs, RT reported.
“Late last year, we saw the rate of grocery price inflation dip slightly, but that small sign of relief for consumers has been short-lived,” Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt, said, noting that the current reading jumped a “staggering” 2.3 percentage points from December’s 14.4%.
The latest increase will take the average annual food shopping bill to £5,504 ($6,781), up £788 ($974), according to Kantar.
The data comes as British consumers face an even tighter squeeze on their finances this year amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis. Although overall inflation has started to ease in the UK from its highest levels in more than four decades, food prices continue to rise, the economists said.