Sainsbury’s boss urges government to help ease rising energy costs for food producers

A fruit picker harvesting strawberries. Sainsbury’s says it has not yet had problems with the availability of food. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The boss of Sainsbury’s has called on the government to help ease the rising cost of energy for farmers, food producers and retailers caused by the conflict in the Middle East to prevent further price rises.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the UK’s second largest grocer, said: “The single biggest thing the government could do to keep prices down is to make sure energy prices for the industry are not rising faster.”