J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) is reducing the prices of 40 dairy products in the UK by up to 60%, the supermarket confirmed on Tuesday.
The reductions will apply to products like:
- JS Light Soft Cheese 250g (40%) now £1.20
- JS British Mature Cheddar 400g (8%) now £3.40
- JS Double Cream 300ml (30%) now £1.15
- JS Fat-Free Natural Yoghurt (60%) £0.40
Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury’ said: “With the rate of grocery inflation remaining at a record high, we want to do everything we can to help our customers manage their budgets and keep prices low on the products they buy most often.”
The reductions come after it was found shop inflation increased in May despite food price inflation dropping to 15.4% in the same period.
Last week, Sainsbury’s boss, Simon Roberts, denied that the supermarket had been profiteering from the increases in prices.
Bartlett added: “Whenever we are paying less for the products we buy from our suppliers, we will pass those savings on to customers.
“As we see the commodity prices starting to fall for milk, we have lowered the price of over 40 own-brand products in supermarkets.”
However, the FAO world food price index, which measures the global prices of commodities, has seen dairy prices fall for the last ten months, bar December.
The UK government said last week it was currently mulling putting a price cap on basic food items at retailers in a bid to control soaring costs for Brits.
However, this has been met with pushback from various officials including Asda’s chairman, Stuart Rose, who argued it would be wrong for the government to interject in the market.