There was another small drop in liquid milk prices in August, according to the Office for National Statistics, with the average price at 65 pence a pint, down from the March peak of 70p.
That was still 4.8 per cent more than in August 2022, while the farmgate price fell by 24.3 per cent over the year. Retail cheese prices also eased but were 23.8 per cent more than in August 2022.
The only retail product in a basket of 11 goods which was less in August this year than last was apples, down 3.2 per cent. Overall, there were six retail products where retail inflation has been greater than farmgate price changes - milk, cheese, mince, pork, bread and beer. Eggs saw the biggest rise in farmgate prices at 46.5 per cent to 143.58 pence per dozen, according to the British Free Range Egg producers Association. The increase in retail price was 18.1 per cent, according to the ONS. The farmgate figures also include data from Defra and the AHDB.
Overall food retail sales were up 1.2 per cent in August.
Nicholas Hyett, investment manager at the Investment Club, said: "While sales were not quite as strong as economists had expected, the broad narrative of a relatively strong UK consumer remains intact."
Volume sales
He added while sales values had increased, volumes had decreased.
"We are spending more but getting less as inflation bites."
Latest figures from market researchers Kantar for the AHDB show a 0.4 per cent drop in the volume of retail beef sales in the 12 weeks to 3 September, while price rose by 11.5 per cent. Lamb sales were down 2.4 per cent, with a 4.1 per cent increase in the average price.
The volume of pork sales was down 3.7 per cent, but prices rose 12.6 per cent.
