Until now, the cost of living crisis has been most closely associated with energy bills - but soon food costs will overtake energy as the main inflation driver.
Food costs are set to overtake energy bills in driving up UK inflation this summer, a new report has warned, reports The Manc.
The report by the Resolution Foundation has found that the cost of living crisis - until now dominated by sky-high energy bills - will soon be driven by rocketing food prices, once again hitting poorer UK households the hardest.
According to the report, whilst energy prices have risen faster in the UK it is still food that makes up the largest share of a typical household's outgoings.
As a result, as food prices continue to rise whilst energy bills fall back this summer it is predicted that the cost of eating will become the biggest threat to people's finances.
Food prices have increased by 25 per cent over the past year and a half, greatly impacting the squeeze on living standards in low and middle-income households.
And now, grocery bills are expected to increase again over the summer.
According to the thinktank behind the report, it was not clear that politicians were currently prepared for another year of food price rises or that “policy debates have caught up with the scale of what is going on”.
Food price inflation reached around 19 per cent in March, the highest in almost half a century. As a result, the report asserts that food prices will be 'contributing far more than energy to CPI inflation through the remainder of 2023.'
The report said: "By this summer, food costs will have overtaken energy bills in the scale of the shock they are administering to family finances."
The Resolution added that it can also model the scale of the impact across individual households, suggesting that this summer 16 million households (56 per cent) will face a big shock when it comes to paying for their food.
The Bank of England governer Andrew Bailey told business leaders earlier this month that he was 'concerned' that food and other non-energy prices would remain elevated.
Typically, food prices in the UK fall in the summer as locally-grown crops replace those imported from abroad.
However, factory gate prices for milk, meat and other foods have accelerated, in some cases by more than 50% year on year.
The Resolution Foundation’s report, Food for Thought, says food prices are expected to contribute “more to overall inflation than energy” in the months ahead.
“Between March and September 2023, food prices are expected to contribute around 2 percentage points to inflation each month, while the contribution of energy prices is set to fall from 3 percentage points to less than 1,” the report estimates.
The cost to the nation from higher food prices since the 2019-20 financial year would be £28bn by the end of the summer, compared with an extra £25bn cost from higher energy prices, it added.
Lalitha Try, one of the report’s authors, said: “Everyone realises food prices are rising but it’s less clear that the scale of the increases has been understood in Westminster.”
“What rising food prices have in common with surging energy bills is that they pose a greater challenge to lower-income households, who spend a higher proportion of their income on food – 15%, compared with 10% for the highest-income households in 2019-20.
“As a result, the effective inflation rate for the poorest 10th of households was almost 50% higher compared with the richest 10th of households in March.”
Featured image - RawPixel
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Reverend and the Makers drop ‘fantastic’ new track featuring Robbie Williams
Sheffield legend and all-round Yorkshire favourite, Jon McClure, debuted a new Reverend and the Makers song with none other than the one and only Robbie Williams.
What a collaboration.
Reverend and the Makers' new album, Is This How Happiness Feels?, is just around the corner, and we've already heard a couple of great singles from the latest record, but we'd be lying if we weren't left very excited when we saw Robbie's name on the tracklist.
It also looks to have served as yet another reminder that, just like Jon himself, he just seems like a sound bloke who loves making music.
Buzzin’ me tits off with this.
I met Rob in 2002 when he came into the health club I was working at. He asked me
The early reviews coming in have proved unsurprisingly positive, too, with one user writing on socials before it was even dropped: "Hold on.... WHAT?? This is ICONIC!!! I need to listen to this song..."
Others went on to describe the partnership as "Two wonderful and inimitable voices", with others describing it as an "absolute earworm" and "a total vibe", just to name a couple of examples.
The general consensus among fans seems to be that it's a "quality tune".
For anyone wondering how the two teaming up came about, besides the pop icon himself having recently released his new BRITPOP project, the 52-year-old also sat down with McClure on an episode of the Game's Gone podcast with his brother Chris, a.k.a. 'Steve Bracknall', last year.
The two have clearly stayed pally ever since, with another going on to add: "Wonderful song. Fingers crossed Robbie joins you to sing it at Leigh! That would be ace. Then you can sing You Again with Katie. I'm so excited."
Safe to say that loyal followers of the Steel City veterans and casuals alike will be hoping to hear this one live; as for whether or not Mr Williams will be joining them, we'll have to wait and see.
As mentioned, the eighth Reverend and the Makers studio LP is landing very soon, due for release on Friday, May 8; it also features the likes of actor and Day Fever collaborator Vicky McClure (no relation), in case you haven't heard it already.
The North Leeds Food Festival returns for 2026 and special anniversary edition
Danny Jones
The much-loved North Leeds Food Festival is back for 2026, and its spring return marks a very special anniversary.
We're getting hungry just thinking about it.
Taking place in less than a fortnight, North Leeds Food Fest marks its 10th birthday early next month, with this year's programme set to be one of the biggest yet.
We're lucky enough to see a lot of wonderful things within Roundhay Park every single year, but this might just be one of our absolute favourites.
Not to speak for all of you, but we're sure plenty of West Yorkshire would agree.
Held on the expansive Soldiers' Field section of the stunning outdoor space, more than a full decade on from the very first iteration of the festival, punters can expect free-flowing drinks, music rolling across the park, and LOTS of food to be enjoyed.
Both dog and family-friendly, too, it's already shaping up to be one of the best fun-for-all-ages weekends of the entire year.
Writing in a teaser on socials, the organisers said: "We’ve been working away behind the scenes to bring a fresh look and feel for 2026, so you can expect some surprises for our big birthday."
Consider our interest piqued and our tummies already rumbling...
The same spotlights will be shining on native independents serving up some of the region's best street food, and you can expect some top-notch drinks from Leeds locals, too.
It's pretty hard to believe it's been 10 whole years since this first started and how far it's come. Here's a longer look at how the last edition went down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSxSj-dQsA&t=2s
Some of the indie enjoyment being teased includes wood-fired pizza, crispy fried chicken, fresh cocktails and a full 'Ale House' pouring from start to finish, as well as "vibrant curries and desserts worth saving space for".
There'll also be artisan markets, a live cookery theatre hosted by Yorkshire chef, consultant and Great British Menu star, Stephanie Moon, lots of live tunes, a whole host of kids' activities, stand-up comedy and tonnes more.
Scheduled for Saturday, 9 May 2026 from 10am and wrapping up on the following (10 May) around 7pm, the doors will be open from 10am on the first day, so you'd better make the most of the celebrations.
The Hoot -
24th May 2023 
