Grocery inflation edged up higher last month, ending four consecutive months of falls in the latest blow to millions of households. 

Data from market research firm Worldpanel by Numerator shows grocery inflation rose by 4.3 per cent in the four weeks to February 22 on a like-for-like basis. 

Prices rose fastest in markets such as fresh unprocessed meat, skincare and chocolate confectionery, and fell in chilled butter and spreads, household paper and sugar confectionery. 

It deals a fresh blow to millions of households struggling with higher food and energy bills and housing costs. 

The increase from January’s 4 per cent grocery inflation came as shoppers held off on Valentine’s Day spending until the last minute, with nearly 12 per cent of households picking up a premium meal deal on Friday night alone.

Consumers spent a collective £39million on high-end meal deals priced at £10 or more in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, which is seven times higher than the previous week.

Worldpanel data also showed that customers paid more for their pancakes leading up to Shrove Tuesday. 

Sales of pre-made mixes jumped 114 per cent week-on-week, but those making their own batter paid 42p or almost 6 per cent more than last year, as the cost of key ingredients reached £7.77, Worldpanel said. 

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: ‘Looking ahead to Easter, shoppers will notice that chocolate prices remain high, up 9.3 per cent year on year.’ 

Separate data published by the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday said food inflation increased by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in February, against growth of 3.9 per cent in January. 

This was, according to the BRC’s findings, in line with the three-month average of 3.5 per cent.  

Fresh food inflation increased 4.3 per cent year-on-year in February, against growth of 4.4 per cent in January. 

This was above the three-month average of 4.2 per cent, the BRC said.

Ambient Food inflation increased 2.3 per cent year-on-year in February, against growth of 3.1 per cent in January. This was below the three-month average of 2.6 per cent.

Ocado crowned as Britain’s fastest supermarket

Ocado was once again the fastest growing grocer over the 12 weeks to February 22, a position it has maintained since September 2025.

Last week, Ocado confirmed plans to axe 1,000 jobs as part of a £150million cost-cutting drive.

Around 5 per cent of Ocado’s global workforce is being cut, with two-thirds of redundancies to take place in the UK, mostly at its headquarters in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

At 5.6 per cent, sales at Waitrose grew at the highest rate since March 2021, reaching a market share of 4.8 per cent. 

Lidl recorded double-digit sales growth for the twelfth consecutive period, up 10 per cent.

Tesco saw sales grow by 4.5 per cent to reach market share of 28.5 per cent, while Sainsbury’s increased its market share to 16.1 per cent as sales rose by 5.2 per cent over the 12 week period.

Asda once again saw its sales dip year-on-year, this time by 2.6 per cent, while Co-op’s sales were down 1.6 per cent on last February, according to the data.

Marks and Spencer, while not a grocer, is a major competitor to the supermarkets in the chilled ready meals category which featured so heavily in shoppers’ Valentine’s Day baskets. Grocery sales at M&S were 7 per cent higher over the 12-week period compared to last year.