Brits could see their food shop become more expensive yet again due to the surging cost of carbon dioxide, new research warns.
Households have already seen prices driven up in supermarkets in recent months as the cost of living continues to rise. Now analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has suggested that £1.7 billion could be added overall to the cost of British groceries.
This is due to the surging cost of carbon dioxide, researchers say. Households will be well aware that energy prices have soared in the past year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and this has also had an impact on industries reliant on CO2.
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The food and drink industry uses CO2 for a number of reasons, including to package food safely, adding fizz to beer and soft drinks, and in the slaughter of pigs and chickens. This means that the sector could end up footing the huge bill for liquid CO2 if gas prices remain high.
According to the ECIU, The price of a tonne of liquid CO2 is up to 3000% higher than it was a year ago, currently as much as £3000 per tonne, compared to just £100 per tonne one year ago. There are fears that gas prices could rise even further, or even that supplies could be cut off, leading to a repeat of last year’s shortage.
Food and drink businesses are already paying far more for energy than they were just a few months ago, with the likes of pubs, farms and supermarkets forking out 71% more for gas in the first three months of 2022 than in the same period last year. And now it's thought that the prices will have a further impact on customers.
Matt Williams, climate and land programme lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “The UK’s reliance on fossil fuels affects more than just families’ energy bills. It could bring the food and drink system to its knees.
“Rising energy costs are creating an extra cost of hundreds of millions of pounds in the food and drink industry that customers may struggle to avoid,” he added. “If high gas prices, or even blackouts, force factories to close it could create real problems for farmers and the food and drink industry.”
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