As inflation rises to 10.1% it’s also revealed that the average weekly food shop has risen by £26.50, almost three times the national living wage, and now worrying shoppers are turning to the frozen aisles to save money. The increase means that food shoppers will be spending an additional £1,378 a year on their annual food bill and according to new research, the rising price of fresh food is worrying 87% of Brits as the cost-of-living crisis starts to impact shopping habits.
The average household size in the UK is 2.4* meaning that homeowners are now spending, on average, £132 on their weekly food shop (£6,864 a year). With prices rising and Brits feeling the pinch, shoppers have now turned to buying frozen.
According to the research, conducted by Kirsty’s, the No.1 free from ready meal brand, three quarters of shoppers (75%) are now buying more frozen products than ever before with 71% of shoppers stating that buying frozen meals is saving them money. According to UK shoppers, aside from the cost saving, other reasons for this switch to buying frozen is that the food lasts longer (77%), it’s cheaper (60%) and that it makes for less fresh food waste (39%).
Kirsty Henshaw, founder of Kirsty’s said: “The cost-of-living crisis is having a huge impact on shopping habits, and whilst shoppers still like the convenience of chilled meals when making choices for their evening meal, but when it comes to the weekly shop, we are seeing more shoppers than ever buying frozen. The increases in costs are also obviously impacting food manufacturers, earlier this year we were prompted to start making frozen meals because of a global free-from manufacturer deciding to no longer serve the UK due to spiraling transport costs.”
Londoners have been hit the hardest when it comes to their food bill with their weekly shop rising £33.20 and those in the East of England have been impacted the least with their food shopping increasing just over £20. With this increase in shoppers buying frozen, Kirsty’s are now introducing two additional products to its frozen range. A Mac and Cheeze and Chinese-style Veg, both free of gluten and dairy, which are launching this September.
According to the research, 26 million people in the UK suffer now from a food allergy or intolerance, an increase of 6 million since last year. Almost one in 3 are now either lactose, gluten, dairy or wheat free and a further 9% have an intolerance to fish or eggs.
The new findings revealed that Brits who follow a free-from diet or suffer from an intolerance spend, on average, 16% more on their weekly shop. In addition, those who follow a free-from diet or suffer from an intolerance have been affected the most by the cost-of-living crisis and rising food prices, with their average weekly shop increasing, on average, by £37, 40% more than those on a standard diet.
Kirsty continued: “Even though we are still heavily affected by rising ingredients and labour prices, owning our UK factory allows us to offer better value for customers. These are exceptional times, and we want to continue to help offer a good choice of quality free-from food to UK shoppers, especially those who have a free-from diet or suffer from a food intolerance.”
Kirsty’s recently addressed the cost-of-living crisis amongst its own staff and handed all factory-based colleagues a 5% wage increase. In addition, Kirsty’s has also committed to donating 100 fresh, free-from meals a week to FareShare Yorkshire, who support more than 428 vital frontline organisations across North, West and South Yorkshire.
