The categories that saw the sharpest increases included fish, where inflation stood at 13.4%, and hot beverages, which reached 11% with coffee prices affected by weak sterling and declining bean stocks, according to the FPI.
Graeme Loudon, commercial director of CGA Strategy, said: “Inflation in foodservice prices continues to run higher than the sector would wish, and the pound’s exchange rate with the euro, dollar and other currencies means imports will continue to be much more costly than in recent years.
“But with domestic production increasing and some other pressures possibly easing, we can cautiously hope for some respite in key costs in the coming months.”
The FPI revealed that for the second month in a row, April prices were higher year on year across all ten sub-categories measured. The rises have pushed the headline rate of inflation to more than three times that of the Consumer Price Index, which was 1.5% in the 12 months to April.
The Foodservice Price Index is jointly produced by Prestige Purchasing and CGA Strategy, using data drawn from over 50% of the foodservice market and around 7.8m transactions per month.