Tesco say we spend 9-10% of our income on food

[Snog]

On the BBC Sunday morning show today the Tesco boss said that people in the UK spend 9-10% of their income on food. My family spends more like 18-20% of our income on food.

Does 9-10% fit with your family spending on food?

We aim for 6% but that’s because we’re fairly high earners so it will be distortive.

There’s a base level food cost that won’t change if you earn £1k a month or £10k a month.

So it’s not inaccurate, but a really unfair way to put it by Tesco as it’s disproportionate for lower earners.

For us I'd say it's a bit less than 9-10% actually but we earn reasonably well and there are only 2 of us.

Less than that. Maybe 4-5%.

That would make my income 4-5k a month! So no, more like 20-30%
Out food bill is roughly half our rent.

We spend about 15% of our income in Tescos. But that includes food, drink, toiletries, cleaning products, stationery and anything else Tesco sells.

Bit more than 10%, fixed low income

I'd say we spend between 10-12%. But we're a family of 5 (with 3 hungry teenagers) and I am quite spendy on food (local organically grown veg, local higher welfare meat etc). We could spend less if we needed to, and I anticipate spending less once the DC are all in university or have left home.

Way more than 10%! We have three kids, including two unfillable teens, a coeliac and an extremely picky eater.

Nearly exactly 10%. But I earn a lot. And eat a lot. And that includes 2x bottles of wine most weeks too 😬

Just worked it out. Ours is 4.6%

I've done a rough calculation and our grocery spend comes in at 11%. More on food with restaurants etc

I spend 800€ per month on food but just over half of that from a local farmers collective (organic food produced within a 20km radius of the collection point) or the farm less than a mile away where I buy their own beef and pork directly. Its twice the price of the cheapest supermarket alternative I'd say. The other half of the budget is spent in the supermarket but obviously € tells you we're non UK.

Two adults, three teens.

Its considerably more than ten percent of our combined after tax income but obviously if price was the only consideration I could spend less - could probably get down to 10% but it would be rubbish!

Wow seems like I am an outlier here!
We are not a low income household either, we menu plan and don't waste much, I wouldn't say we are extravagant with food.

I don't more like 2-3% but higher income and not including eating out

Around 10% joint net income here, spend around £80 a week on the grocery shop and our joint income is £3500ish, that’s not just food though that’s the everything shop

About 8% for us, including eating out fairly often. Our weekly shop is definitely getting more expensive though - partly because cost of certain staples has shot up, partly because growing kids are permanently 'staaarving!'

Yes it's easily that much for us.

Mumsnet has a lot of high earners though.

About 8% for us but only have a toddler and two of us. Don't count toiletries in that or wine as we bulk buy elsewhere.

I spend around 20% of my income on food. I am surprised at the small percentage most people spend.

I think ours comes out at about 4 or 5% from a rough calculation today but I agree it’s a very strange way to present the statistic as it’s more skewed by what you earn that what you spend.

So it’s not inaccurate, but a really unfair way to put it by Tesco as it’s disproportionate for lower earners.

In fairness, I watched this interview and after he gave that figure as an average, he did specifically say it would be higher for lower income households.

Around 2% in our house, we don't scrimp on food but it totally depends on what you earn.

We spend more than that but we enjoy good quality food. We buy meet from farm shops and direct from local producers as we are surrounded by them. So we probably spend around 10% in supermarkets but bread, cheese, meat, veg, eggs are bought elsewhere.

Meat not meet!

More like 16%+ for me but single income plus multiple children so I'd expect it to be higher than average.