Food price rises and economic uncertainty hit retailers in July

Britain's largest retailers struggled to entice shoppers back to the high street in July as the cost of meat and butter drove up food prices, adding to the pressure on household finances.

- Phillip Inman

According to the latest snapshot from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), food prices rose by 4% in July from a year earlier, up from 3.7% in June and above the three-month average of 3.5%.

Highlighting the pressure on family budgets from the rising cost of groceries, the BRC said that while fresh vegetables and fruit inflation held steady at 3.2%, cupboard food prices jumped by 5.1% compared with a year earlier, up from 4.3% in the year to June.