By Laura McGuire
The price of a slice of toast with butter is about to get cheaper as some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets have slashed the price of the kitchen staples following criticism over high prices.
Sainsbury’s said that as commodity prices started to fall on wheat and butter, it is now able to reduce the price of its salted and unsalted butter from £1.99 to £1.89 for 250g packets.
The ‘Big-Four’ grocer has also slashed the price of its 800g Soft White Medium, Wholemeal Medium, Wholemeal Thick and Toastie White loaves of bread to 75p – down 11 per cent.
“We have been battling hard to beat inflation and whenever we are paying less for the products we buy from our suppliers, we will pass those savings on to customers,” Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury’s, said.
In typical price war fashion, Aldi and Tesco swiftly introduced identical price cuts on Wednesday morning.
“As families continue to watch their weekly spend and budget carefully, we’re pleased to be able to pass on price reductions where we can, and to help with everyday essentials like bread and butter,” Ashwin Prasad, Tesco group chief product officer.
It comes as Sir Ed Davey, party leader of the Liberal Democrats, accused supermarkets of “profiteering” during the cost-of-living crisis.
Davey said that the competition watchdog should start an investigation into whether food retailers put up the price of goods by more than was necessary to cover the cost of rocketing inflation.
As food prices soared by 15.7 per cent in April, the highest on record, it’s also been reported that the chair of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee is looking to summon supermarket bosses to parliament to tackle price rises.
“We are actively looking at doing a report on fairness in the food supply chain and talking to the supermarkets to see if it is a case of them exploiting their very dominant position – we’re looking at five or six big players,” chair Sir Robert Goodwill, told PoliticsHome.
While the speed at which a supermarket can lower its price once a competitor does may raise the eyebrows of some, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said retailers work “incredibly hard” to limit price increases for consumers during a cost-of-living crisis where many people are struggling to afford the essentials.
“As the cost pressures facing retailers ease, retail prices will follow fast as they fiercely compete for market share.” Opie added.
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