Food prices: The British public are hostages to ‘greedflation’, says UNITE

• Greedflation is where large corporations have fuelled inflation by excessive profiteering

Supermarket price inflation in the UK has hit a record high, adding £837 to annual household bills according to market analysts Kantar.

New Unite research, analysing the FTSE 350 shows how profit margins for the first half of 2022 were 89% higher compared to the same period in 2019 (see also notes to editors).

Commenting on the crisis which is being made worse by profiteering, Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “Despite the rise in wholesale prices, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda still managed to increase their profits by an astonishing 97% in 2021. At the same time the 8 top UK food manufacturers made profits of £22.9 billion. Profiteering is happening right along the food supply chain and workers are paying the price.

“It’s more evidence that the British public are hostage to greedflation . It’s time our elected leaders and policy makers woke up to corporate greed and challenged it head on.”