Supermarkets’ senior executives to face questions from MPs over food price inflation, profits and relationships with producers
Senior executives from five of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains will be questioned about retailers’ role in the food supply chain by MPs on the cross-party EFRA Committee next Tuesday (30 April).
The session will be an opportunity for MPs to examine the impact of food price inflation on supermarkets, manufacturers, suppliers and consumers.
As part of its ongoing inquiry into fairness in the food supply chain, the Committee has so far taken evidence from academics, food producers, and manufacturers.
In this fourth evidence session, MPs’ focus will be on the relationship between food production costs, food prices and retail prices, and how structural relationships between food producers, manufacturers, and retailers could be improved.
Witnesses will be questioned on the nature of retailers’ profits in the context of the high food price environment and how they ensure that profits are distributed throughout their supply chains. They will also be asked about the extent to which the position of consumers is considered when setting prices.
The session will also see retailers questioned about the practice of shrinkflation and MPs are likely to ask whether retailers should be doing more to inform customers when package sizes have been reduced.
In previous evidence to the Committee, MPs heard that retailers sometimes brand products in ways which could be misleading for consumers, and they are likely to ask witnesses how supermarkets’ labelling practices affect consumer confidence and understanding.
Supermarket executives being questions next week from 2.30pm include: Dom Morrey, commercial director for fresh food, Tesco; Rhian Bartlett, chief food commercial director, Sainsbury’s; Kris Comerford, chief commercial officer for food, Asda; Charlotte Di Cello, commercial director, Waitrose; and Richard Bourns, chief commercial officer, Lidl GB.
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