The majority of Brits think that supermarkets are making excessive profits from rising food prices linked to the Iran war, despite Chancellor John Healey acknowledging there is little evidence of widespread price gouging.
The latest City A.M./Freshwater Strategy polling found that 70 per cent of respondents believe supermarkets are unfairly profiting from food inflation.
Of those surveyed, 43 per cent said they “agree slightly” that supermarkets are profiteering from rising prices, while a further 27 per cent strongly agreed that grocers are engaging in price gouging.
The findings come after Healey warned the big retailers that ministers were “watching closely” for any signs of profiteering though he also stated that there had been “no significant evidence of so-called price gouging” during the crisis.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Healey said he was prepared to crack down on any retailers taking shoppers “for a ride” by using the soaring energy and supply costs caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as an excuse to raise prices.
“Companies’ willingness to work with the government throughout this crisis has been positive, and there has been no significant evidence of so-called price gouging, but I want to be blunt in reassuring the public that our regulators have the powers to clamp down on it if it happens,” Healey said.
Retailers hit back at the Chancellor’s suggestion that they might be profiteering. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said it is prepared to prove that it is keeping prices down.
Jim Bligh, the BRC’s corporate affairs director, told City AM, “It’s not helpful for the Chancellor to label retailers as potential profiteers when it’s one of the UK’s lowest margin industries.”
BRC added that intense competition among retailers is keeping a lid on rising prices.