The papers all have different takes on the effect of the cost of living crisis on supermarket value ranges.
The prices of the lowest-cost grocery items in the UK have not risen faster than average food prices, the Office for National Statistics said on Monday in experimental new research (The Financial Times £).
The headline in The Times (£) shouts that ‘budget food prices jump up to 50% in a year’ before pointing out that the ONS report found considerable variation, with the prices of six items falling.
UK consumers are facing significantly bigger increases in the price of some budget food items including pasta, crisps and bread, new experimental data shows, as poorer families bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis (The Guardian).
An opinion column in The Guardian says there is no doubt the poorest are hardest hit as food and fuel costs rise. “Inflation watchers may disagree on the details, but consensus is that higher prices will persist.”
A similar analysis by Assosia for the Grocer compared inflation on 18 value items versus their mid-range alternatives, taking an average across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons. It found value range items were up 0.3% in the year to May, compared with 13.5% on more expensive items. Read the full story here.
Sainsbury’s boss Simon Roberts has warned that the cost of living crisis will get worse before it gets better (The Mail).
Britain’s retailers have warned prime minister Boris Johnson that his plan to bring back imperial measures will push up the price of goods — because they would need relabelling — just as consumers are battling the worst cost of living crisis for a generation (The Financial Times £).
The UK competition regulator has told Morrisons to keep its business separate from that of McColl’s while it investigates the supermarket chain’s takeover of the failed convenience store operator (The Financial Times £).
The Competition and Markets Authority issued a so-called ‘initial enforcement order’ requiring Morrisons to stay independent from McColl’s while it investigates the deal (The Mail).
The collapse of McColl’s is set to deliver a £4.5m hit to Smiths News, the newspaper distributor warned yesterday as the competition regulator opened an inquiry into Morrisons’ rescue of the convenience stores chain (The Times £).
The takeover of Jus-Rol by a rival pastry maker could lead to higher prices and lower quality, the competition watchdog has warned (The Times £).
The Competition and Markets Authority is threatening to start an in-depth investigation into Cérélia’s takeover of Jus-Rol, a deal which would see the UK’s largest manufacturer of bake-at-home dough items snap up the best-selling brand in the country (The Telegraph).
The boss of United Biscuits warned yesterday that food manufacturers were facing a “perfect storm” of costs as the maker of McVitie’s, Jaffa Cakes and Hobnobs revealed that its profits had fallen back in 2021 (The Times £).
The National Lottery could be suspended for the first time in its 28-year history in a row over ownership (The Mail).
Businesses are increasingly confident that they can use high inflation to rebuild their margins, a survey has found (The Times £).
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