UK Shoppers Turn To Own-Label Food As Inflation Bites, Research Shows

British shoppers are increasingly choosing own-label products to help counter surging inflation, according to research by NielsenIQ that showed overall supermarket spending down on a year ago when COVID lockdown measures were in place.

Sales of branded grocery products fell by 5.1% in the four weeks to 26 March, while sales of own-label, or private-label, products created for chain stores were down 1.9%, the market research company said.

The share of sales for own-label products rose from 52.4% to 53.2% compared to a year ago, it said.

UK inflation hit a 30-year high of 6.2% in February and is heading for 9% later this year, according to the government’s budget watchdog, which predicted living standards in 2022 would fall by the most since at least the 1950s.

ESM