Iceland's managing director says he expects food prices to continue to rise and some items to be in short supply, as the grocery industry faces a "perfect maelstorm of pressures". Richard Walker, managing director of the Deeside-based frozen food chain, said that the combination of energy costs, fertiliser and staff shortages are just some of the problems they are facing.
Speaking to BBC Radio Four as part of a feature on the pressures facing the grocery industry, he said the upcoming months are going to get "tougher" and that he wanted to be "upfront and frank" with customers. Speaking about how the issues the company are facing now differ from previous pinch points in inflation he said: "The business was started by my dad, he will talk about the fact that we have had nearly no food inflation for 25 years and maybe we have got a bit too used to that as a society.
"But when I look back at our ads from the early 90s, we were selling 500g lasagne for £1 and guess what, we still are. As a proportion of income it has dropped, but we are still one of the lowest in the world I think.
