UK retailers report record 15.7 rise in food prices
BRC says overall shop price inflation up 8.8 in April
Lower wholesale prices likely to reduce food costs BRC
Almost half of Britons are buying less food ONS
Butter and vegetable oil prices fall in April

LONDON, May 2 Reuters Food prices in Britain rose by a record amount over the past 12 months but lower prices are on the horizon, offering some relief to squeezed consumers, the British Retail Consortium BRC said on Tuesday.

The BRC, representing 5,000 retailers including supermarkets, said food prices at its members soared 15.7 in the year to April, the biggest increase in records going back to 2005, after a 15 rise in the year to March.

Coffee beans and the packaging and production of readymeals pushed up food inflation, but prices for butter and vegetable oil fell.

We should start to see food prices come down in the coming months as the cut to wholesale prices and other cost pressures filter through, BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.

Overall inflation among BRC members dropped to 8.8 from March39;s 8.9 helped by heavy discounting of clothing, footwear and furniture.

Britain39;s consumer price inflation hit 11.1 last October, its highest in over 40 years. It then fell more slowly than the Bank of England expected and remained above 10 in March.

The official measure of food price inflation which is calculated differently to the BRC39;s was the highest since 1977 in March at 19.1.

Almost half of…