Lower grocery prices are in store

In a piece of good news for consumers, the prices of groceries will be going down throughout 2015. It is expected that the big four supermarkets will be reducing the prices of thousands of items, and the savings will be passed on to families across the UK. While the reductions will vary by chain, they will amount to maybe over £900m when all is said and done.

The price cuts are being led by Asda as well as their competitor Sainsbury. It is expected that others will be soon following, such as from Tesco. No matter who is involved in this pricing war, the bottom line is that prices will be more than likely going down.

This is very good news for everyone, but the people that will gain the most are low income families. With the continued cutback in benefits occurring across the UK, as well as still flat wages, many households are still struggling to balance their budgets on a monthly basis, and the lower cost of groceries will help millions of households.

Some of the price cuts by Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart, are already in effect, and took place on January 1st. There have been reports of prices of eggs being cut by 40 per cent and cost of beef going down over 20 percent. They are predicting hundreds of items to be cut by up to 50%, with thousands others being reduced but by not as much. While the exact savings and cutbacks will vary based on store and area, those are major reductions and there are many other examples.

Prices may not only be going down in 2015. Asda is reducing prices by £1bn over the next 5 years, though the bulk will be in 2015. So while things can change in future years and some of the programmes and discounts are time limited, consumers will definitely be benefiting in 2015.

The food price reductions from Asda, while significant, will just put them in a more competitive position to some of the discounters. So while savings for families will be significant, some people already shopped at discount stores for many of these groceries so they will not benefit from all of these reductions.

Salisbury is also joining the price wars as well. They are lowering the cost of over 1000 food items, many by from 10 per cent to up to 50%. While the reductions will not be as great as some supermarket chains, the savings being passed on to families will be significant. It is expected that all of the big four supermarkets will be cutting prices and adding more services for consumers.

These savings will benefit low income families the most. With almost 20 per cent of the population living in or near poverty, if less of their income is spent on groceries then that can free up funds for other bills they are faced with. So these price wars on groceries will help many households keep food on their tables throughout 2015.