UK government urged to act as some meat and veg prices double in a year
Some meat and vegetable lines at supermarkets have almost doubled in price over the past year, research has found, prompting fresh calls for the government to intervene as food industry figures gather for summit in Downing Street.
Annual inflation on supermarket own-label budget items stepped up to 25% in April, according to the data from consumer group Which?, while the rate of price increases on branded goods remained steady at just under 14%.
However, some individual items rose at a far faster pace. The price of a pack of Morliny frankfurters at Asda shot up from an average of £1.25 to £2.42, an increase of nearly 94% in a year, while a four-pack of brown onions at Morrisons went from 65p to £1.24 – a 91% rise.
The highest rate of inflation by category last month was on cheese and milk – both over 20% – while inflation eased slightly on both premium and regular supermarket own-brand items.
Sue Davies, the head of food policy at Which?, urged Rishi Sunak to ask grocery bosses gathering at No 10 on Tuesday to commit to doing more to hold prices down, “including stocking budget lines in convenience stores to ensure easy access to basic, affordable food ranges that support a healthy diet”.
Supermarkets, farmers and food industry leaders are meeting the prime minister to discuss how to tackle food price inflation, which rose to 19% in March, according to official government figures.
Before the summit, agriculture and food lobby groups called for more access to overseas workers to help pick crops and better regulation of suppliers’ relations with supermarkets as well as help to adapt to cope with an anticipated rise in extreme weather conditions prompted by climate change.
The UK’s competition watchdog announced on Monday that it
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