Food prices up 10% in Australia since last year

Supermarket prices have lifted off again, according to new data, placing pressure on households and feeding inflation while also denting hopes that shoppers were set to soon receive a respite from surging food costs. Investment bank UBS has found that food and grocery prices at Australia’s dominant supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworths, were running at an annualised 9.6% increase in April, according to its analysis of more than 60,000 items. The UBS figure, which is disputed by Coles, represents a new high, with fresh food propelling the increases with near double-digit annual rises.