IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh has written in City AM defending supermarkets against criticism for recent high food inflation.

Matthew wrote:

“Supermarkets are nothing short of a modern miracle. Our forefathers were forced to survive on a small array of local produce and often suffered from malnourishment and regular famines. Today we can pick from thousands of goods from across the planet just down the street.

“But as households struggle with the cost of living crisis, with wages failing to keep up with rising costs, anger is increasingly directed at supermarkets. It’s easy to understand why. Food inflation is at a 45-year high, up an astonishing 19 per cent year-on-year to March 2023. According to the Office for National Statistics, almost half (48 per cent) of Brits are buying fewer groceries.

“British supermarkets did not suddenly become greedy and monopolistic in the last twelve months. In fact, they have made immense efforts to keep prices as low as possible, given free or discounted meals to children, and provided discounts to vulnerable groups. But they have faced higher wholesale costs following disruptions to global supply chains after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. There is also the general inflationary pressure from loose monetary policy from central banks during the pandemic. The alternative to price rises would have been food shortages even worse than the empty tomatoes crate in the local Sainsbury’s.”

Read the full piece here.