Brits think supermarkets are profiteering – despite slowing food inflation
The majority of Brits think that supermarkets are profiteering from rising food prices caused by the Iran war despite the Chancellor John Healey recently admitting there was little evidence of the practice, new polling has revealed.
Some 70 per cent of UK voters believe that supermarkets are making “excessive” profits from food inflation, according to the latest Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll.
A total of 43 per cent of Brits polled “agree slightly” with the suggestion that supermarkets are unfairly profiting from rising prices, while 27 per cent said they strongly believe that grocers are engaging in price gouging.
The findings come after Healey warned retailers against ramping up prices unnecessarily before admitting he had not seen any signs it was happening.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Healey said he was prepared to crack down on any retailers taking shoppers “for a ride” by using the soaring energy and supply costs caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as an excuse to raise prices.
“Companies’ willingness to work with the government throughout this crisis has been positive, and there has been no significant evidence of so-called price gouging, but I want to be blunt in reassuring the public that our regulators have the powers to clamp down on it if it happens,” Healey said.
Retailers hit back at the Chancellor’s suggestion that they might be profiteering. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) – which represents the UK’s biggest retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda – said it is prepared to prove that it is keeping prices down.
Jim Bligh, the BRC’s corporate affairs director, told Morning Wire: “It’s not helpful for the Chancellor to label retailers as potential profiteers when it’s one of the UK’s lowest margin industries.”
Voters who believe the sector is price gouging were split by party allegiance. Some 79 per cent of Green voters and 75 per cent of Labour voters polled said they believe that grocers are profiteering, compared to just 56 per cent of Conservative voters.
Grocers make only 3p profit per pound
Brits’ perceptions of supermarket price gouging comes despite food inflation slowing in recent months, reaching as low as 1.7 per cent in June.
Food industry figures had warned that inflation could reach as much as 10 per cent later this year, but the BRC says that intense competition among retailers is keeping a lid on rising prices.
Around 70 per cent of voters believe that supermarket prices are still rising, though at a slower rate than before, while 14 per cent think that inflation is accelerating, according to the Morning Wire/Freshwater poll.
When asked to estimate grocers’ profit taken from every pound spent, voters put the figure at 32p, more than 10 times the actual level.
When told that supermarkets make only 3p in profit from each pound in sales, Brits’ belief that grocers are price-gouging fell to just 32 per cent.