Waitrose's managing director today predicted that food prices could start to fall in the next few months following bumper summer harvests.

Mark Price said that there were already price decreases on vegetables, such as broccoli and cabbage, and added that food price inflation was levelling off.

His comments contrast with British farmers' assessment of this year's harvest as "the most expensive ever" because of rising fuel costs, while there is likely to be an increase in the cost of wheat after the poor weather damaged crops.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Price said: “Certainly, if you look at vegetables, the prices there are coming down. Wheat prices across the world are stabilising because, generally speaking, harvests across the world have been much better this year.

“It’s still true to say that, in livestock, prices are going up so in the UK what we are seeing is beef prices up by 25 per cent, lamb by as much as 50 per cent coming into Waitrose, but we are not passing that on to the consumer — we are absorbing those costs and our margin is reducing as a consequence.

“So as far as the consumer is concerned, what they are going to start seeing now is deflation in some areas, and already we are seeing it in vegetables.

“They are going to start seeing prices levelling off in the next 12 months as either the retailers are absorbing some of that cost or the food costs in the supply chain start coming down.”

The comments come just days after Associated British Foods, one of Britain’s biggest food producers, said that the worst of food price inflation could soon be over, given price falls in commodities such as wheat, corn oil and soya.

Sharp price rises in commodities at the turn of the year have fuelled a spate of price increases in supermarkets throughout the spring and summer.

Official figures earlier this week showed that food price inflation spiralled to a record 11.4 per cent last month, up from 10.8 per cent in July.

A survey by The Grocer magazine last weekend showed that the price of loose apples had risen by an average of 26 per cent in the past year, that of pork chops by 45 per cent and dried spaghetti had doubled in price. Kingsmill sliced white bread has leapt by 30 per cent to £1.22.

Waitrose said the price of broccoli had fallen 20 per cent while cabbage was 8.5 per cent lower.

The supermarket chain, part of the privately-owned John Lewis Partnership, has invested £30 million in lower prices over the past six months. Operating profits at the business fell by 8.4 per cent to £102.7 million in the six months to July 26 after the investment hit profit margins.

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