Unit Prices

Unit prices are not well understood by many British shoppers. However they are a great way for you to find out how expensive a food item is regardless of the size of package used. Label formats vary from shop to shop but they contain the same essential information.

Selling Price and Unit Price

When food is sold in a package, two prices are specified – a selling price and the unit price. You should find both on a shelf label.

How to find the Unit Price

The unit price appears on a shelf label in smaller print than the selling price. The following are examples from different supermarkets.

Supplementary Unit Prices

It is not uncommon to see labels which have not only a metric unit price but an imperial unit price as well.

The Government has allowed supplementary imperial prices to be used until end 2009 providing they are not more prominent than the metric ones. However, UKMA thinks that they are potentially confusing, as you cannot compare the imperial price with the charge shown on a receipt.

Why different units are used

Where possible, unit prices are per kilogram if weighed

or per litre if by volume.

However, in some cases it is more consumer-friendly to use smaller units. For example the unit price for breakfast cereals is per 100 g because of the wide range of carton sizes on offer.

Likewise cooking oil has a unit price per 100 ml.

The unit price for herbs and spices is 10 g because of the small weights involved.

Full details are given in Schedule 1 of the Price Marking Order .