A report by a UK regulator into ‘profiteering’ by supermarkets is expected to be published next week.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is understood to have gathered evidence against UK grocers to file in the report, according to the website The Grocer, with findings that could lead to the creation of a task force to monitor prices long-term.
Supermarket executives this week have been defending claims they were inflating profit margins during the cost-of-living crisis during a cross-party examination by members of Parliament.
Grocers said they have submitted evidence to the CMA at the hearing, while also claiming to have done all they can to keep prices down, despite profit margins widening.
Bosses of Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda were also grilled about the Aldi price match scheme, which is the centre of many retailers’ pricing strategies, by former small business minister Jane Hunt.
“The question the CMA will be posing to itself is whether this scheme provides a vehicle for price co-ordination across the industry,” said Andrew Taylor, partner at Aldwych Partners.
“That is, if a lot of the grocery retailers are price matching against Aldi, then that provides the potential for informal behaviours that allow prices to increase and for competition to soften,” Taylor added.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is also expected to meet with CMA bosses today to urge them do all they can to ensure retailers tackle inflation.