Tesco is seeing “encouraging early signs” that grocery price rises are starting to slow, the supermarket says.
While overall consumer price inflation has dropped to 8.7%, food inflation has remained much higher at over 19%.
Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy said the retailer was “very conscious” that many customers continue to face significant cost-of-living pressures, and he welcomed signs that inflation is starting to ease across the market.
In a call with analysts, quoted by Sky News, Murphy said that he believed the food sector was now “past the peak of inflation”.
“Hopefully we will see prices moderate through the rest of the year,” he added.
The competition regulator is currently looking into the grocery and fuel industry for any failure of competition that could mean consumers are overpaying.
For its first quarter, the 13 weeks to 27 May, Tesco reported a 9% rise in sales from a year earlier to £10.8bn.
