Research highlights cost of sandwich increases by more than one third
The cost of making a cheese sandwich at home has increased by over one third (37%) in a year according to research, it was reported on BBC News.
Brad Pearce, chair of LACA, said: "LACA have been highlighting to Government that with the current economic climate the cost of all food and staple ingredients have been increasing over the last year for all school caterers and only last week we saw that food inflation has hit a 45 year high of 19.1% in March.
“Unsurprisingly, those rates of inflation have now fed through to supermarkets and the domestic shopping basket which is hitting families hard and particularly those families who do not qualify for free school meals.
“As reported, with the cost of a home-produced sandwich and packed lunch having increased by a third we can see what fantastic value a freshly, cooked hot school meal really is to those pupils and students in school. We would urge all parents and carers to use their school meals service which provides great quality, tasty and nutritious school lunches at an affordable price.”
The research, which was conducted for the BBC, also found that sandwich fillings including ham, eggs and chicken had increased. A father told BBC News that he had already switched his two children from packed lunches to school meals in an effort to save money.
The rising cost of a packed lunch:
- Cheese sandwich, 40p increase, +37.3% (since 2022)
- Cheese & ham sandwich, 82p increase, +28% (since 2022)
- Ham salad sandwich, 84p increase, +16.2% (since 2022)
- Egg & cress sandwich, 47p increase, +40.8% (since 2022)
- Tuna mayo sandwich, 40p increase, +14.9% (since 2022)