UK supermarkets say market is “most competitive” it’s ever been
27th June 2023 Executives at the UK’s largest supermarkets have dismissed claims from MPs that they are making too much money, saying the market is at its “most competitive” level ever. Top figures at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda were questioned on Tuesday morning about rising prices of food and fuel. Despite claims from some MPs, the supermarkets rejected the notion that they have been making excess profits, instead claiming that they were shielding customers from high costs. An investigation by the competition watchdog is examining whether or not customers are overpaying for their fuel and groceries due to high competition. The British Retail Consortium, which represent supermarkets, said that the rate at which food prices are rising has fallen for the second month in a row, down to 14.6% in June from 15.4% in May. Despite this fall, these figures are still extremely high, and do not represent a fall in prices, just that the rate of price increases is slowing down. The chair of the Business and Trade Committee, Darren Jones, said that all of the quizzed supermarkets, except Morrisons, had seen increased profits compared to the period before the COVID-19 Pandemic. He added that some Asda workers had reported having...
