Sugar prices saw further hikes this week after reaching a 10-year high in January. Morrisons and Lidl hiked the price of Silver Spoon and own-label sugar respectively last week, according to the KVI tracker, with a 1kg bag of sugar now costing 99p at both retailers, up 52% in a year. All major retailers have raised the price of sugar in the past six months due to a series of global price pressures. The average supermarket price of sugar hit £1.06/kg in January, according to the official Retail Price Index (RPI) - a 10-year high. These record sugar prices have been driven by several factors. In Europe, the sugar beet crop is the smallest in 20 years, largely due to poor weather and a ban on pesticides, said Darren Peters, VP sales & marketing at Tate & Lyle Sugars. World sugar prices are also now at a record high, with sugar prices having doubled in the past two years, Peters added. Last month, global sugar prices lept 7% to $0.45/kg in February, according to the World Bank. This is partly due to lower worldwide production. Brazil is the largest sugar producer globally and suffered from poor weather during its planting season, said Barry Callingham, chairman of The Sugar Association of London.