Senior executives from major supermarkets, including David Potts from Morrisons and top heads from Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda, are expected to be questioned by MPs this week on the rising cost of groceries, stated a recent report, as they face mounting pressure to offer a wider range of essential products at cheaper prices.
While average inflation for food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 18.4 per cent in the year to May, the executives are likely to be challenged on why some meat products and vegetables have almost doubled in price. Households are continuing to feel the financial strain of soaring costs with nearly half of adults telling the government office that they were “buying less when shopping for food”.
They will also be questioned over profit margins, competition in the supply chain and when shoppers can expect to see significant falls in prices, The Guardian reported. The grocery sector is already being examined by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to establish whether any failure in competition is contributing to higher grocery prices.
Although the government dismissed the reports of the possibility of putting price caps of grocery, prime minister, Rishi Sunak stated recently shopping bills had “gone up far too much in the past few months”, saying “we are looking at the supermarkets, making sure that they’re behaving responsibly and fairly when it comes to pricing all those products”.
The Food & Drink Federation (FDF), which represents UK food manufacturers, said that price rises were a “last resort” and manufacturers were continuing to absorb “as much as they can” of their increased input costs.
A Morrisons spokesperson said it had broadened its Savers range by more than 10 per cent in recent months, and cut the prices of more than half of products.
A spokesperson for Tesco said that the supermarket is committed to giving our customers consistent, reliable prices.
“Our Express stores do not have the shelf space to accommodate all the product ranges available in our larger stores, so we use our expert knowledge of local customers’ shopping habits to make sure the ranges in each store best meet local tastes and needs.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said in the last two years, the supermarket has invested over £560 million to keep our prices low.
