Shoppers are poised to pay a heavy price for record food sales

News that food price inflation is currently running at 1.4 per cent lurks in Kantar’s regular grocery market update and Brexit could push that figure even higher, writes James Moore

Take-home groceries have seen a rise of 13.9 per cent (iStock)

Turns out that the supermarkets were smart to return the gains they made through the business rate holiday when they did last week.

Imagine how it would have looked if they were still holding the line after Kantar’s report of a 13.9 per cent surge in take-home sales during November – a month of lockdown and angst.

With eating out not an option, people bought in, much to the delight of their grocers’ finance departments.