Shoppers faced with rising food prices could choose value brands to help their household budgeting, a Cabinet minister has suggested. Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News that rising fertiliser and feed costs had hit the farming industry, partly as a result of soaring energy prices.
“The better news is that we have a very, very competitive retail market with 10 big supermarkets and the four main ones competing very aggressively, particularly on some of the lower-cost, everyday value items for households, so things like spaghetti and ambient products – there’s a lot of competition to keep those prices down,” he said.
“Where it gets harder is on things like chicken and poultry, and some fresh produce, where those increased feed costs do end up getting passed through the system because these people work on wafer-thin margins and they have to pass that cost through.”
