# With UK food price inflation at 46-year high, lawmakers launch probe Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-05-12 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: UK Food Price Inflation Probe: Fairness of Supply Chain Meta Description: British lawmakers investigate fairness of food supply chain amidst highest food price inflation since 1970s. EFRA committee seeks to understand profit sharing URL: https://financedigest.com/with-uk-food-price-inflation-at-46-year-high-lawmakers-launch-probehtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2023-05-11t230901z2lynxmpej4a10srtroptp4britain-prices-1736814025017-compressed.jpg) # With UK food price inflation at 46-year high, lawmakers launch probe By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) – British lawmakers launched an investigation on Friday into the fairness of the country’s food supply chain, seeking to understand why households are facing the highest levels of food price inflation since the 1970s. The cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee of the House of Commons, the lower chamber of parliament, said it would examine how profits and risks are shared from “farm to fork”, and the level of regulation. It will also examine the impact of external factors on the [supply chain](https://www.financedigest.com/power-out-how-to-prevent-your-supply-chain-from-diving.html "Power Out: How to Prevent your Supply Chain from Diving"), such as imported food and global commodity prices. When many people are struggling to give their families good food at a reasonable price, it’s our job as a committee to get to the bottom of what’s going on,” Robert Goodwill, chair of the EFRA Committee and a lawmaker from the ruling [Conservative Party](https://www.financedigest.com/rishi-sunak-declared-next-leader-of-uk-conservative-party-to-become-next-pm.html "Rishi Sunak declared next leader of UK Conservative Party, to become next PM"), said. “We know that consumers are paying higher prices, but the question is – are the other parts of the [supply chain unduly benefiting](https://www.financedigest.com/the-internet-of-robotic-things-how-iot-and-robotics-are-evolving-to-benefit-the-supply-chain.html "The Internet of Robotic Things: How IoT and robotics are evolving to benefit the supply chain ") from that, or are some of them also feeling the squeeze?” he said. Earlier this month, France’s government pledged to take action against [food retailers](https://www.financedigest.com/demand-from-retail-food-and-beverages-sector-to-account-for-over-70-of-refrigerated-display-cases-sales-study.html "Demand from Retail Food and Beverages Sector to Account for over 70% of Refrigerated Display Cases Sales: Study") who fail to pass on lower wholesale prices to consumers. In Britain, the smaller [opposition Liberal Democrats party has called](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-opposition-calls-for-better-online-protections-for-children.html "UK opposition calls for better online protections for children") for the government to investigate supermarkets’ profits. Supermarket groups, including market leader Tesco, deny claims that they are profiteering, saying they have taken a hit to earnings and have [operating margins](https://www.financedigest.com/catering-group-sodexo-targets-operating-margin-above-6-in-2025.html "Catering group Sodexo targets operating margin above 6% in 2025") of 4% or less, while major consumer goods firms such as Unilever and Nestle have margins of 16-17%. Official [data showed UK food prices were 19.1% higher](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-street-pushes-stocks-oil-higher-on-promising-data-2.html "Wall Street pushes stocks, oil higher on promising data") in March than a year earlier, the biggest such rise since August 1977, while in April, grocery inflation was 17.3%, according to industry data. The Bank of England said on Thursday it expected overall [inflation – which remained above 10% in March – to fall](https://www.financedigest.com/kraft-heinz-flags-margin-pressure-from-inflation-shares-fall.html "Kraft Heinz flags margin pressure from inflation, shares fall") more slowly than it had hoped, mostly due to unexpectedly big and persistent rises in food prices. Food retailers have said they expect prices to [rise in 2023 overall but the rate of inflation](https://www.financedigest.com/greek-eu-harmonised-inflation-rises-in-september.html "Greek EU-harmonised inflation rises in September") will decline through the year. [Prices for some products that have seen the sharpest rises](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-prices-rise-as-weaker-dollar-offsets-china-covid-19-concerns.html "Oil prices rise as weaker dollar offsets China COVID-19 concerns"), such as milk, butter and bread, have actually started to fall. The EFRA committee does not have the power to change legislation but it can take oral and written evidence from farmers, manufacturers, retailers, the government and consumers, and [issue a report](https://www.financedigest.com/tesla-investors-to-focus-on-demand-issues-in-earnings-report.html "Tesla investors to focus on demand issues in earnings report") with recommendations. (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Susan Fenton) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---