This consultation seeks your views on the proposed introduction
of legal price caps on essential food items sold by large
supermarket chains in their stores or online. This consultation
seeks your views on the Scottish Government proposal and the
design of any potential scheme.
Open
85 days to respond
Respond online
Closes25 November
2026
Supporting documents
Ministerial Foreword
People across Scotland are struggling with the persistently high
and rising cost of living. The price of energy is going up. It is
becoming more expensive to heat our homes. Fuel costs more at
petrol stations and some people are struggling to put food on the
table. Where possible, the Scottish Government must act to
address these pressures.
This consultation delivers on our commitment to explore further
action to improve food affordability. I am seeking your views on
a cap on the price of essential food items such as bread, milk
and eggs with the aim of improving the affordability of food for
households facing cost of living pressures, particularly those on
lower incomes. In designing any intervention, we will also
consider impacts on nutrition and health.
This action will complement the other steps that we are taking to
address cost of living pressures, including support for
affordable childcare, the provision of free school meals, and the
removal of peak rail fares. No one measure will of itself resolve
household financial challenges or solve the cost-of-living
crisis, but each action will contribute to reducing pressures.
When addressing affordability, consideration must also be given
to nutrition and health, impacts on our food industry and food
security, implications for regulators, potential indirect impacts
on the environment and climate, and how interventions might
affect existing societal inequalities.
The people who grow, produce, store, process, transport, sell and
cook food are critical to our food industry and to our society -
getting food from farm to fork. The farmers that work the land
and our fishing communities are central to our way of life,
contribute to our food security and are a core part of Scotland's
economy. Therefore, I am committed to taking action to address
food affordability in a way that protects them, and I intend to
work directly with them to understand how best to do this.
I also recognise the importance of the competitive retail sector
in Scotland, both in the provision of food and as a significant
employer. Retailers in Scotland face challenges in the form of
increased energy costs and other pressures, while workin to
ensure that a range of produce is readily available. I value the
work that many responsible retailers already undertake to
maintain low prices. Addressing the cost of-living pressures
faced by so many means that we must work together and go further
to support consumers.
This consultation seeks your views on the proposal of price caps
on essential food items as a means to addressing the challenge of
food affordability, particularly for those on lower incomes. It
also seeks input on different choices for how a price cap could
be designed in future. I recognise the complexity of the
challenge, and I invite contributions to inform an approach that
can deliver balanced outcomes.
We need your help to make those balanced judgements, so that we
arrive at the best possible solution, informed by your
experience. Whether you are involved in the food, retail or
hospitality industries, work on a farm or fish in our seas, if
you procure, store, transport, package, prepare or serve food,
campaign to improve our food system, or are simply looking to put
food on the table for you and your family, I want to receive your
views and input on this important work.
MSP
Minister for Business and Fair Work
