UK food price inflation begins to ease, says Sainsbury’s

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UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury said that food price inflation was starting to ease, as the group reported an almost 10 per cent increase in sales.

“Food inflation is starting to fall and we are fully committed to passing on savings to our customers,” Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said in a trading update on Tuesday. “Prices on our top 100 selling products are now lower than they were in March, against a market where prices have gone up.”

The comments echo those of Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy who last month said there were “encouraging” signs that inflationary pressures were easing.

Sainsbury on Tuesday reported a 9.8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, for the first quarter, with grocery up 11 per cent.