About 23 business representative groups have urged Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney to abandon plans for a statutory cap on certain food and drink prices, warning that the measure could ultimately increase costs for consumers.
The joint appeal, submitted ahead of this week’s expected Programme for Government, brings together organisations representing retailers, convenience stores, food and drink producers, wholesalers, logistics firms and manufacturers. Collectively, the groups represent sectors employing around 300,000 people across Scotland.
In their letter to Swinney, the organisations described the proposed Food Price Cap as “unnecessary, ineffective” and likely to have “significant adverse consequences” for retailers, producers and shopworkers.
The groups argued that a statutory cap would fail to tackle the underlying causes of higher food prices, including rising production, refrigeration, energy and distribution costs.
They pointed to supply chain disruption following the Covid pandemic and conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, which have increased the cost of fertiliser, fuel and energy. Employment and packaging taxes have added further pressure, with costs ultimately flowing through farming, food manufacturing, refrigeration and distribution.
The signatories, which include the Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Grocers’ Federation, Scottish Wholesale Association and Association of Convenience Stores, said Scotland already benefits from one of western Europe’s most affordable grocery and food supply markets.
They argued that the competitiveness of the existing market, rather than statutory intervention, should be allowed to deliver the best possible prices for shoppers.
“Grocery retailers and food producers take their responsibility to provide affordable, quality food seriously,” the groups said, stressing that retailers and the wider supply chain work together to provide food “at the lowest prices for consumers”.
Instead of introducing a price cap, the organisations called on Scottish Ministers to work with retailers and suppliers to address the factors driving food inflation.
They also warned that abandoning the proposal would send a positive signal to businesses facing an increasingly “cumulative regulatory burden”.
The letter was signed by representatives from 23 industry bodies spanning retail, farming, food production, wholesale, logistics and convenience, underlining the breadth of opposition to the proposed intervention.