Government to ask supermarkets to cap prices of basic food items

The British government is looking at plans to have retailers cap the prices of basic food items such as bread and milk, states a recent report as the cost of such essentials continued to rise in the double digits.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s No. 10 Office is in talks with supermarkets on a deal similar to one in France where major retailers charge the “lowest possible amount”, The Telegraph reported on Saturday (27).

However, asked about such price controls, health minister Steve Barclay on Sunday (28) told BBC TV it was “not my understanding”.

“My understanding is that the government is working constructively with supermarkets as to how we address the very real concerns around food inflation and the cost of living and doing so in a way that is also very mindful to the impact on suppliers,” Barclay told BBC TV.

Britain has western Europe’s highest rate of inflation for food, with prices up more than 19 per cent over the past year, the worst such run since the 1970s. Household budgets have also been strained by surging energy prices, driven higher partly by the war in Ukraine.

Major supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have announced price cuts on some food items in recent weeks.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents all the major supermarkets, blamed the government’s new regulation for many of the costs, and urged it in a statement to simplify rules “rather than recreating 1970s-style price controls.”

“This will not make a jot of difference to prices. High food prices are a direct result of the soaring cost of energy, transport, and labour, as well as higher prices paid to food manufacturers and farmers,” BRC’s Andrew Opie said.

Accusing ministers of keeping food inflation high despite falling commodity prices by presiding over a “muddle” of new regulation, he said, “Rather than recreating 1970s-style price controls, the government should focus on cutting red tape.”

Opie reportedly said that supermarkets ran on slim margins and profits had already fallen in the past year, while many retailers have expanded affordable food ranges and locked prices on essential products.