Nine out of 10 shoppers expect food prices to be more expensive in the year ahead, according to the latest research from IGD ShopperTrack. And they are planning to use several strategies to help them manage their budgets.

In the next 12 months 29% of shoppers intend to use more discount grocery stores, and 16% say they will do more of their shopping at frozen food specialists over the same period.

Older shoppers are more likely than younger ones to expect food inflation to go up, with 96% of shoppers aged 55+ versus 78% of 18-34-year-olds expecting food prices to be more expensive in the next 12 months.

Shoppers with secondary school children are more likely to increase their use of grocery discounters – 39% of shoppers with children aged 11-18 versus 27% of those without children expect to increase their use of grocery discounters over the next year.

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, said: “The vast majority of shoppers believe that food inflation is set to increase over the next 12 months. They are not taking it lying down and instead are prepared to sacrifice some of their time by shopping around at different retail formats, from discounters to frozen food stores, to get the best deals.

“Although shoppers are looking for value, they are still interested in maintaining their values and are prepared to pay for this: nearly half of shoppers (49%) say supporting local or British products is important to them when choosing what groceries to buy. But shoppers in some parts of Britain are more focused on price: those in Scotland are the most likely of any region to focus on saving on money in the year ahead.

“Even with the constant talk of doom and gloom, shoppers are still prepared to splash out: eight out of ten say they pay extra for premium quality groceries every now and then, for example, during the recent Royal wedding.

“Fixed price meal deals, such as dinner for two for £10, more price matching and round pound deals are some of the initiatives food companies have introduced to help shoppers keep within budget.”

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