FOOD prices are set to rise another 4.2 per cent — with Greggs already raising the cost of its sausage rolls.
The return of punishing inflation — after the Budget’s business tax hike — will put another squeeze on Brits, with experts saying “there’s little hope of prices going anywhere but up”.
The British Retail Consortium said while clothing, homeware and electric retailers had discounted heavily before Christmas to revive sales, the brief period of deflation is ending.
It warned: “Non-food will return firmly to inflation.”
And the BRC said chats with retail bosses “suggest food prices will rise an average 4.2 per cent in the latter half of the year”.
Bakery chain Greggs has already outraged customers by hiking its sausage rolls again — up from £1.25 to £1.30. Coffee has also risen 10p to £1.70.
Two years ago, its popular porky pastries were just £1.
Retired quality control inspector Linda Johnson, 74, said: “It’s now £3.90 for four sausage rolls. I wouldn’t pay that, I’d tell them to stick it. The whole point of Greggs is that it’s cheap.”
In November, Greggs boss Roisin Currie said the chain was facing a hit of “tens of millions” of pounds in extra staffing costs.
Employers’ National Insurance Contributions are set to rise in April, as is the minimum wage.
Did you know Greggs sausage rolls have 96 layers of pastry?
The first Greggs opened in 1951 on Gosforth High Street.
There are also 2,473 shops around the country — a thousand more than McDonald’s.
Greggs is now valued at £2.6billion thanks to its budget deals.
Nearly £2 in every £100 spent in UK hospitality is done in a Greggs.
Newcastle still remains the sausage roll capital of the UK, with Geordies scoffing 17.9 million of them a year.
