Price of coffee, tea, milk, eggs and chocolate soar after inflation hike
Various factors, including the record-breaking Oasis reunion tour have been named as potential reasons for surging costs in the UK.
The price of coffee, tea, milk, eggs and chocolate in the UK has rocketed in the last year as one Conservative MP says the nation is “quite literally paying the price for a socialist government”.
Inflation rose to its highest since January 2024, reaching 3.8% in the year up to July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the Bank of England predicting further rises in September.
Soaring air fares were the main driving force behind the increase, caused by hiked school holiday costs, jumping by 30.2% while food inflation climbed to 4.9% as essentials rocketed in price.
Former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and businessman, Lord Michael Ashcroft shared figures published by the Daily Mail depicting price rises for beef and veal (24.3%), coffee (18%), cinema, theatre and concert trips (5.7%), electricity (8%) and chocolate (17.2%), amongst other increases.
Essentials such as eggs and tea shot up 4.9% each, while whole milk prices have risen by 11.3% in the past 12 months, according to the graphic featuring ONS figures.
Peter Bedford, Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Leicestershire, reacted to the inflation numbers on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting “We are all, quite literally, paying the price for a socialist government.”
But, inflation for most sectors can be put down to a number of factors, such as the aforementioned air fare surge, which jumped a record 30% from June to July and by 15% compared with the same month in 2024.
Experts also cite a rise in hotel prices as being linked to the recent Oasis reunion tour, which stopped in Cardiff, Manchester, London and Edinburgh.
Stepping back, in the past five years leading up to July, the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks grew by around 37%.
The living standard think-tank Resolution Foundation claims the UK is “increasingly looking like an inflation outlier” when compared to other G7 nations.
This coincides with data putting the UK as having the G7’s fastest-growing economy after increasing by 0.3% from April to June, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves stating the British economy is “beginning to turn a corner.”
Speaking on the inflation data, the Chancellor added that there was “more to do to ease the cost of living”, while the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, claimed the data was “deeply worrying for families.”
Food price inflation has continued to climb for four consecutive months, to 4.9%, its highest since February 2024. Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices also went up, making trips to supermarkets more expensive on two fronts.
High energy and ingredient costs mean food and drink manufacturers are being “squeezed on all sides”, according to the industry representative, Food and Drink Federation.
“We expect that high food and drink inflation will persist through the year, so any fresh costs for businesses in the autumn Budget will inevitably put yet more pressure on shoppers’ pockets,” claimed Jim Bligh, director of corporate affairs and packaging at the FDF.
