Britain's Marks & Spencer has become the latest supermarket to cut food prices, adding to signs that a surge in inflation is set to abate.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's key pledge to halve inflation in 2023 has been undermined by persistently high food inflation, which was running at over 19% in April, according to the most recent official data, and 17.2% in May, according to industry data.
Read More: Why Is UK Food Inflation So Stubbornly High?
Cost Of Living Crisis
Any signs that it could abate or even reverse in the coming months are being closely watched by the Bank of England, lawmakers and consumers ground down by a cost of living crisis into its second year.
M&S said it has cut the price of 70 staple products, such as beef mince, Greek style yoghurt, salmon fillets, chickpeas and tortilla wraps, by between 3% and 25%.
The group is also locking the prices of 150 products until the autumn, including pork sausages, cheddar cheese and coleslaw.
Morrison's Pledge
British supermarket Morrisons also said it is cutting the prices of 47 products by an average of over 25%.
Morrisons, Britain's fifth largest supermarket group, said products subject to the latest price cuts included beef mince, ham, tomatoes, spinach and wholemeal pittas.
It said a pledge to hold the new prices for at least eight weeks represented an investment of £26 million (€30.5 million).
Frozen Prices
On Friday, market leader Tesco said Britain's food inflation has peaked.
Also last week, Asda, the No. 3 player, froze the prices of over 500 products until the end of August, No. 2 Sainsbury's reduced the price of toilet paper, and upmarket grocer Waitrose reduced the price of over 200 products.
Read More: Aldi, Lidl Outperform The Wider UK Grocery Sector, As Inflation Eases
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