Cost of supermarket basket up by 6 per cent in capital

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A typical supermarket basket of goods favoured by shoppers in the capital, including organic and Fairtrade items, has outstripped inflation in all the major chains. The biggest increase was at Sainsbury's where prices are 10 per cent higher than a year ago, according to price comparison website mysupermarket.com.

The official inflation figure rose to 3.3 per cent yesterday and could hit four per cent.

Some prices have rocketed because of rises in commodity foods such as grain and rice. The price of a 500g packet of Tilda Brown Rice has more than doubled in a year to £2.39 at Sainsbury's with smaller but significant increases at Asda, Tesco and Ocado. Last year's floods hit potato crops, driving the cost of Kettle Chips up by more than 50 per cent at Tesco to £1.49 for a 150g bag.

However, there are still bargains. A 225g punnet of raspberries is £2.99 at Tesco, Sainsbury's and Ocado, but a 350g punnet is only £1.78 at Asda.

The "London basket" of 34 items cost least at Asda (£85) followed by Tesco (£87.39), Sainsbury's (£92.27) and Ocado (£95.56). The smallest increases of four per cent were at Asda and Ocado, the online company used by Waitrose.

Johnny Stern, director of mySupermarket.co.uk, said: "The cost of the average Londoner's basket has increased significantly. However, even on high-end products there are still significant savings to be made by looking for offers and swapping like-for-like items - without having to sacrifice luxury."