Risk of gaps on UK supermarket shelves if small firms collapse, food sector warns

Food and drink inflation hit 12.7% in July, according to figures published last month. Photograph: Kumar Sriskandan/Alamy

Supermarkets could face gaps on shelves if small businesses go bust this winter as a result of soaring costs, the UK’s leading food industry group has warned.

“It’s going to be a really difficult winter,” Karen Betts, the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, told MPs on the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee, pointing to the rise in food and drink inflation to 12.7%.