Fury after Britain's top supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda ... trends now
Supermarkets have been slammed for posting a 97 per cent surge in profits while millions struggled to put food on the table.
Bosses at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Lidl and Waitrose today came under fire from MPs investigating spiralling bills.
Evidence from the consumer champion Which? shows millions are worried about prices or have been forced to skip meals.
And a record rise in shoplifting has been partly driven by the fact essentials, such as baby formula, were too expensive.
At the same time farmers have been squeezed by supermarkets who have failed to pay them a fair price that reflects surging costs.
Last year alone, Tesco made £2.3 billion. Commercial Director for Fresh Food at Tesco, Dom Morrey, claimed accounting measures had inflated the chain's profits
Sainsbury's posted a £701m profit last year. Sainsbury's executive Rhian Bartlett, who is Chief Food Commercial Officer, confirmed a link between the high cost of food driving normally law-abiding people to shoplift
Labour MP, Barry Gardiner, said: 'Which? reports that 79 per cent of customers are extremely worried about food price inflation.
'They said one in five households are going without some foods and 13 per cent of households have skipped meals.
'In March 2023, the annual rate of food price inflation was the highest it had been for 45 years … 19.1 per cent.
'This year on top of that there has been a further increase of 4 per cent. Prices keep on going up.'
Against that background, he questioned whether supermarkets are doing as much as they could to help shoppers.
The MP pointed out: 'We have evidence … that shows that certainly the top three supermarkets … in the post pandemic years showed a 97 per cent rise in their profits.'
Last year alone, Tesco made £2.3 billion with £701m posted by Sainsbury's and £1.1 bn for Asda.
Questioning a Tesco executive giving evidence to the DEFRA Select committee, Mr Gardiner, said: 'You have seen a very large rise in profitability this year to £2.3 billion – up from the previous year by £882m.
'Is there more you could be doing to help the 79 per cent of customers who are worried about putting food on the table?'
Labour MP, Ian Byrne, suggested the high cost of food is driving normally law-abiding people to shoplifting.
He asked: 'Do we need to be thinking about
