Apparently inflation is it 10.5% so please explain to me how food prices are rising so astronomically.

All stages in the food chain have ongoing increases, add in their small % of profit and the end user gets the compounded sum.

It connects to the price of certain items in short supply - grain that would have been sourced from Ukraine, for example. Grain is also fed to animals so that impacts on the cost of meat and dairy. Fuel used in production is more costly. Also for tinned goods the cost of the aluminium but I’ve no idea where that comes from. Wage rises, transportation costs - it’s an imperfect storm.

Sorry, I answered the question in the title and not the actual question in the post.

I make a weekly food plan and only buy what's on my list. To reduce costs, it looks like I should start being more flexible and swapping out one ingredient for another if a cheaper alternative is on offer.

Do you get the leaflets from the supermarkets? When my family visit from the UK they are amazed at the amount of paper that comes into the house every week - a huge wad of supermarket flyers.

Going through that and planning around the special offers would also make a difference.

But I agree, it is the basics that are going up in leaps and bounds. Sometimes as much as €1 at a time (for half a pound of butter)

Food inflation is nearly 20% with gas and electricity inflation nearer 30%. Other things, have not gone up so much in price, hence overall inflation is only around 10%.
Inflation is much higher for those on a low income who can't afford holidays, cars and other luxuries which have gone up less.

The answer to your question I think is leave it Shinamae. I’ve started not buying the items that I see have risen astronomically in price.
It is very hard with pet food though because it’s better to stick to one type, and it needs to be good quality, so for that I’m shopping around for the special offers. My dog is still eating Forthglade that was on offer in Lidl before Christmas, because I bought it in bulk. It’s gone up from £8 a box to £9.75 in the other supermarkets, so I’m doing the scanner to see which one has it on offer so I can stock up again.

Inflation is based on the cost of everything. Food and energy are going up at a rate higher than inflation, other things are rising more slowly, staying stable or perhaps even dropping in price. The average is higher than those items but unfortunately below everyday goods.