Consumer group: UK food prices up by as much as 175%, govt. action needed

A British consumer group has alerted the country's authorities to the meteoric rise in prices of food items over the past two years, urging prompt action to shield households amid the country's unprecedented cost-of-living crisis and soaring inflation.

Reporting on Sunday, "Which?" consumer group said some food prices have witnessed an exponential rise of about 175 percent since 2021.

On average, the prices of food and drink products rose by 25.8 percent between June 2021 and June 2023, the group found after examining eight different major department stores, including Tesco and Lidl. It said the figure was based on analysis of more than 21,000 food and drink products 

Price increases have been blamed on a host of issues such as increase in the cost of agricultural products, energy, and labor.

"Which?" however, said its findings show that some supermarket products have been hit with disproportionately high inflation.

"Two years of relentlessly soaring food prices have had a devastating impact on households," said Sue Davies, the head of food policy at "Which?", adding, "This isn’t helped by the confusing and inconsistent pricing practices used by some supermarkets, which make it incredibly difficult to work out how to find the best value products."

The group cited absence of unit prices as an apparent instance of such pricing policies, saying the practice has come to prevent shoppers from comparing value for money between different sized packages, bottles, and brands.

UK supermarkets have, meanwhile, rejected allegations that they have profiteered through the cost-of-living crisis.

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A UK parliamentary committee has heard from the CEOs of some of the country’s major supermarkets which have been accused of grotesque profiteering in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

"The hard work being done by retailers to absorb cost increases means the UK offers among the cheapest grocery prices in Europe," alleged the British Retail Consortium's Chief Executive Helen Dickinson.

Last month, a landmark research study revealed an excruciating extent of food poverty across Britain as the general public grapples with soaring inflation and the highest cost-of-living in a generation.

More than eleven million people or one in seven persons throughout the UK faced hunger last year due to a shortage of money, according to a new study by a leading charity organization, the Trussell Trust.

The charity noted that the latest findings are just the tip of the iceberg and the shortage of money is not limited to just hunger pangs among the impoverished Britons.

The new revelation came as governments across Europe have been struggling with high inflation.

Last month, the government in France secured a pledge from 75 food companies to cut prices on hundreds of products.

Hungary, for its part, has imposed mandatory price cuts, while the UK has raised concerns about soaring food prices without offering any plans to impose price caps.

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