Senior staff from the UK’s ‘big four’ supermarkets will be grilled by MPs on a key House of Commons committee today over sustained high prices after food inflation remained in the double-digits this month.
Morrisons boss David Potts and senior staff from Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO), J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) and ASDA will be questioned by MPs over key figures from the industry and when prices will begin to slip.
According to the British Retail Consortium, UK shop inflation eased to 8.4% in June from 9.0% in May, but food prices stubbornly remained in the double-digits at 14.6%.
Supermarkets have repeatedly faced pressure over high food and fuel prices, with the likes of Sainsbury’s and Tesco both previously defending against accusations of profiteering.
Though Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 sent wholesale costs skyward, prices have begun to subside, with the likes of Brent and crude oil falling year-on-year, alongside wheat, palm oil and corn, according to Trading Economics.
“Businesses have benefitted from a reduced cost burden from lower gas and electricity prices which is feeding into lower food inflation,” interactive investor analyst Myron Jobson explained.
“But we’re not out of the woods yet. We are still paying a lot more to put food on tables than last year.
“Customers are […] increasingly taking a stand against what they deem as unfair prices amid fears that food retailers and producers are profiteering from rising prices," Jobson added.
The supermarket representatives will be grilled by the Business and Trade Committee shortly after 10.00am GMT on Tuesday.
In our one-off session tomorrow we'll be questioning supermarket key figures on rising food and fuel prices and whether we'll soon see price falls. We'll also be questioning the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
????Watch it here tomorrow at 10:10am: https://t.co/jmATJeqXxe
— Business and Trade Committee (@CommonsBTC) June 26, 2023