Thursday 22 September 2022 09:53 AM Cost of living rate rise: Packed lunches cost rises by 70 per cent trends now

The cost of children's packed lunches has risen by 70 per cent in 18 months as the cost of living crisis continues to punish hard-hit families.

Everyday items used to make children's lunches, including bread, ham, cheese, tomatoes, biscuit, apples, yoghurt and crisps have soared in price in the past year.

According to research by Starling Bank for the Sun, tomatoes are 146 per cent more expensive while cheese has shot up by 132 per cent.

Yoghurt has almost doubled in price while the price of bananas has risen from an average of 73p to an average of 97p as well.

The price increases mean the ingredients, popular for making children's packed lunches, now cost a family £11.87 to buy for one week's worth of food - a sharp increase from the £6.99 it cost in April 2021, the newspaper reports. 

It comes after data from research firm Kantar revealed a £571 annual increase in the average UK household's grocery bill, or £10.98 every week, when compared to 12 months ago.

Rampaging prices of food and drink saw the cost of groceries jump by more than 12 per cent in the past month alone.

Milk, butter and dog food experienced massive price increases, 31 per cent, 25 per cent and 29 per cent respectively, and the average annual grocery bill will now rise from £4,610 to £5,181 if consumers fail to shop around for cheaper deals. 

Sales of the very cheapest own-label value products are up by 33 per cent on a year ago, with almost one in four shopping baskets containing these items.

Overall spending on all retailer own-label lines was £393 million higher during the latest four weeks, pushing their share of the market to 51.1 per cent.

Take-home grocery sales increased by 3.8 per cent over the quarter - the third month of growth in a row after more than a year of decline as a consequence of comparisons with the

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