The competition watchdog is to investigate whether "any failure in competition" is leaving consumers paying higher grocery and fuel prices than they should be, it has announced. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had not seen evidence pointing to specific competition concerns in the grocery sector "at this stage", but it was "important to be sure that weak competition is not adding to the problems".
The CMA said: "Given ongoing concerns about high prices, we are announcing the stepping up of our work in the grocery sector to understand whether any failure in competition is contributing to grocery prices being higher than they would be in a well-functioning market."
The watchdog said it will assess how competition is working overall in the grocery retail market, and identify which product categories, if any, "might merit closer examination across the supply chain". It will provide an update on its work over the coming months.
