20 April 2023
The British Independent Retailers Association has commented on today's announcement that inflation rates have fallen by raising their concern about the price hike in food.
BIRA, which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, has said that soaring prices for food and essential cupboard items such as bread and cereal were of grave concern to them.
The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation has dropped to 10.1% from 10.4% the prior month.
However, food prices have soared due to factors such as the war in Ukraine, meaning that prices of grains and vegetable oils have increased. There has also been a rise in transport and packaging costs.
Some of the sharpest rises have been in olive oil which has risen by 49%, milk by 38%, and ready meals by 21%.
Andrew Goodacre, BIRA CEO said: "The small fall in inflation is a concern, but a bigger worry is the rise in food inflation – now at almost 20%. With so much consumer spending being spent on essentials such as food, there is less disposable income for the discretionary spending that so many smaller retailers rely on. I would like to see some investigation into the food supply chain to ensure that we are not experiencing unnecessary increases because inflation on non-food items is much lower.
"I also hope the Bank of England does not use these latest figures as a reason to increase interest rates. Interest rates are proving to be a very blunt instrument for inflation because the rise in prices is not driven by consumer demand. Increasing interest rates would further restrict any economic growth and the BoE has to look at other ways of reducing inflationary pressures," he added.
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