Rises in the cost of food are continuing to be a burden on consumers, it has been revealed.

According to Johnny Stern, director of mySupermarket, Consumers appear to be increasingly finding that food prices are going up. This was blamed partly on the recent poor weather conditions resulting in a poor crop of various produce and causing a shortfall in supply. However, it was asserted that overall rise in demand has meant and that in particular ‘basic products’ have gone up.

He commented: “On the one hand you’ve got increased demand for a lot of these basic products and - on the other hand - from the supply side you’ve got a shortage of supply due to a bad crop of various products, due to certain weather conditions and it’s the combination of the demand reasons and the supply reasons which has caused the increase in the price of basic products - a double whammy effectively.”

Furthermore, it was reported that the continuing increase in the cost of oil is impacting upon food values. One way in which this has occurred has involved the increasing cost of transporting raw products to distribution outlets. Here retailers have been accused of shifting the result of rising transport costs on to the buyer. Meantime, it was stated that as the price of oil go up, more effort is being directed towards research into alternative resources. And although at first people might conclude that this means food prices will fall, Mr Stern announced that this is not the case. It was claimed that some of the more staple food products are now not just sought after as food but are also being used as an alternative energy source, something which again forces up demand and costs for such produce.

Following on from price increases - not just in food but additionally in areas such as petrol - it may be possible that Britons discover themselves struggling with greater difficulty to manage with the many constraints on their spending. This may mean that making repayments on mortgages and loans, meeting the cost of household bills and transport expenses additionally become harder to cope with.

Mr Stern’s comments come after research carried out by Verdict revealed that the “typical basket” of 100 grocery items was 5.8 per cent more expensive in May as opposed to the beginning of this year. In the firm’s report it was also showed that the cost of fruit and vegetables has risen by 16 per cent since January, with dairy produce posting growth of 6.2 per cent. However, it appears that people might see the cost of grocery shopping having a bigger effect on their spending as it was reported food price inflation will be strong over the rest of the year and into 2009.

In the face of rising food prices, those consumers bothered about their ability to manage their money over the coming months might wish to consider taking advantage of cheap loan. By doing this it may be possible borrowers can meet numerous money constraints at once, leaving them with a single affordable monthly repayment to make. Getting a loan for the intentions of supplementing spending as who live costs surge may also be recommended after TheEnergyShop reported that price rises by Britain’s six major energy providers saw the typical utilities bill add to by 14 per cent during the first few months of 2008.