A typical basket of 100 grocery items cost 5.8% more in May than it did at the beginning of the year, according to new research, in effect adding around £514m a month to the British grocery bill. For hard pressed consumers such an increase comes on top of a host of other price rises and demonstrates why, for many households, inflation feels far higher that the government’s official rate.

Accounting for 13 pence in every pound spent by shoppers, grocery is one of the most significant areas of consumer expenditure. As such, an increase in prices of 5.8% since the start of the year is particularly painful and means that in effect, compared to January, the nation is collectively paying an additional £514m a month for its grocery shopping.

Food shopping is something most people do regularly, so they immediately notice increases in prices more than they do in other areas. For many, the price of the weekly food shop is the real measure of inflation – it’s what they react to when they make decisions about the household budget and what to spend on other things.

On a product basis, the cost increases vary significantly. One of the sharpest areas of increase is in the price of fresh fruit and vegetables, which have increased by almost 16% since the beginning of the year. Almost all essential food stuffs, including dairy, store cupboard products (which include pasta, canned goods and condiments) and meat and fish have seen above average increases.

Although the price of goods is rising, the UK’s grocers are helping to mitigate price increases. The research shows that since January the cost of a basket of own label products at Britain’s four main grocers (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons) has increased by 5.6%. Comparatively, a similar basket of branded products has increased by 6.1%.

The future prospects for food inflation will bring little comfort to the consumer. The research forecasts that food price inflation will remain strong for the duration of 2008 and that an inflationary push will persist into 2009.