Olive oil, sugar and more items should be left off your shopping list

Supermarket food and drink items now cost an average of £4.25 which is up £0.44 on this time last year (an increase of 11.6%), according to new research. 

By analysing the latest data from the Office of National Statistics, the finance experts at RIFT, have collated the items that are best left out of your shopping basket since they have seen the largest annual hikes in price. 

RIFT studied the average price of food and drink items and compared how this cost has changed since this time last year. 

5 ways to save money on your weekly food shop

Bradley Post, MD of RIFT, commented: “The cost of almost everything in our supermarkets has climbed over the last year, from sugar to sweetcorn, gammon to grapefruits, and while these cost increases may seem marginal in some cases, they all add up when it comes to the weekly shop. 

"But by arming yourself with a little bit of knowledge, you can dodge the items to have seen the largest price hikes when dashing down the isles. 

"A few simple swaps and a little bit more leg work can help you achieve this. For example, making your own sauces or burgers will ensure you don’t pay above the odds for some of the frozen or pre-made items to have seen the largest cost increases.”

What are the most expensive items in our shopping baskets?

Although not a regular purchase ( and not an addition that will surprise most of us) but champagne tops the list of the items that are costing the most in our shopping baskets at the moment.

It's worth swapping out champagne for another kind of bubbly since the average cost of a 75cl bottle is currently £32.61.

Protein powder comes in second place on the list with an average cost of £27.99 for 90g to 2kg. 

Meanwhile, Parmesan cheese comes in third place with an average cost of £20.86 per kg.

Another product named by the experts includes white sugar which currently sits at just £1.12 per kg on average -  the steepest price increase of all food and drink items, up by 53.4% annually. 

Olive Oil has also seen a considerable increase, now costing shoppers 41.7% more, with cook-in-sauces also seeing a 33.6% jump in price. 

Other items to make the top 10 include hard cheese (+31.3%), cucumber (31.3%), pickle (+30.5%), onions (+29.1%), frozen beef burgers (+29.1%), iceberg lettuce (+28.1%) and canned tomatoes (+27.3%). 

Almost every food item on the list has seen a price hike other than kiwi fruits (-5.7%), blueberries (-2.3%), spreadable butter (-0.9%) and honey (-0.4%).

The finance experts have confirmed though that it's still cheaper to shop yourself than order a takeaway or eat out.

RIFT carried out additional analysis that showed that the average cost of a takeaway or restaurant item currently sits at £5.47.

This is 29% more than the average cost of a supermarket item - despite seeing a more marginal year-on-year increase at 9%. 

Takeaway burgers have seen the steepest price hike, now 14.6% more expensive than they were a year ago.

Muffins and cakes are up 12.9%, with fish and chips (+12.8%), pastries (+12.6%) and pizza.

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