British food producers reject Tesco head’s price hike jibe

Bloomberg

British food suppliers denied Tesco Chairman John Allan’s claim that some companies were increasing prices more than necessary.
Minette Batters, President of National Farmers’ Union, told BBC radio she was baffled at the accusation. “It was almost like he was living in a parallel universe. For primary production, for farmers and for growers, this has been absolutely unprecedented,” she said, referring to sharply higher costs.
Karen Betts, Chief Executive Officer of the Food & Drink Federation, joined in to dispute Allan’s claim.
“Those price rises reflect the rising ingredients costs, energy costs, transport costs, packaging, labour, all of those costs have gone up. All our suppliers know they have a responsibility to keep food affordable,” she said, adding that companies are having to cut back investment to reduce costs.
UK consumers faced a 16.8% jump in food costs in December compared to a year earlier even as overall inflation eased for a second straight month.
Allan said Tesco had been pushing back against price rises by companies such as Kraft Heinz. Asked whether some big companies have been taking advantage of the poorest people in the country, Allan said “they may well have.”
The comments come after a report by consumer magazine Which said last week that grocers could be “doing a lot more” to help people cope with the cost-of-living crisis. Bloomberg’s monthly Breakfast Index has found that the price for every ingredient in a full-English has risen over the past year.
Consumer giants have insisted that they are not passing through all their input cost rises. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, Unilever Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope warned more price rises were on the way.
“We are certainly nowhere close to peak prices,” Jope said. “So the consumer is going to see the cost of food, personal care products, everyday commodities is going to continue to rise.”