Posted on 02/08/2022 5:34:08 AM PST by blam
Britain’s largest supermarket chain warned “the worst is yet to come” on food inflation as the cost-of-living crisis pulverizes the working poor.
John Allan, chairman of Tesco Plc, told the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live that low-income households have difficulty choosing between food and heat this winter. Budgets are tight, triggering a ‘winter of discontent’ if widespread inflation doesn’t diminish.
“In some ways, the worst is still to come – because although food price inflation in Tesco last quarter was only 1%, we are impacted by rising energy prices. Our suppliers are impacted by rising energy prices. We’re doing all we can to offset it … but that’s the sort of number we’re talking about. Of course, 5%,” Tesco’s Allan said.
‘When the chairman of Tesco says something it really matters because it’s Britain’s biggest supermarket’
Paul Hawkins discusses Tesco Chairman John Allan has saying the ‘worst is yet to come’ in the cost of living crisis.
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— GB News (@GBNEWS) February 7, 2022
He said food and energy inflation would change consumer spending patterns, buying fewer luxury goods and big-ticket items and going out less to eat. Food inflation comes as households experience one of the most significant jumps in annual energy costs in years.
“It troubles us, and I’m sure troubles many people, that people may have to struggle to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families,” he said. “And that’s clearly not a situation that any of us should tolerate.”
For some context for our international readers, Tesco controls about 28% of the UK grocery market. So when Allan speaks about the worst of the food inflation has yet to come — it’s very concerning that food price hikes might continue well through spring. It’s still unknown the social ramifications of high inflation.
Food prices globally are at decade highs, likely to hit new records by spring.
In December, inflation was the highest in three decades had put tremendous pressure on the Bank of England (BoE) to raise key interest rates to quell inflationary forces. For the second time in three months, BoE raised interest rates to 50bps. Implied rates suggest rate traders believe more hikes are coming down the pipe.
While the BoE tries to mitigate pain on already-struggling households, especially those of low income, rising interest rates are already producing volatility in fixed income markets and spreading to equities. Investors owning companies that can deal with price shocks could be a safe haven to navigate this rocky period.
‘COVID surge’...LOL!
I am mystified by the whole pasta thing. My local supermarkets have had large gaps in their pasta sections for about 2 years. Not completely empty, but very noticably sparse. And this diagram shows pasta prices up 26%.
It’s flour. And water.
You can make your own easily enough, but why are major companies incapable of supplying this basic good at a reasonable price? Some supply issues might have been caused by hoarding but by now maybe everyone has a 5-year supply of noodles in their basement. There ought to be normal (or diminished) demand and the shelves in stores ought to have pasta. But no.
Flour. And water. Are these things in short supply??
“Our suppliers are impacted by rising energy prices. We’re doing all we can to offset it...”
Funny. Less than two years ago, America was Energy Independent and sharing our oil with the rest of the world!
What changed?
Let’s Go, Brandon!
I am a proud member of the LGBFJB community.
When people have to worry about finding food, maybe some of the social justice lunacy will lose it’s luster?
Flour is made from Wheat. Pasta is no longer cheap to make. Also, we import a ridiculous amount of Wheat, which SHOULD be grown right here!
And the French can’t even afford a simple Baquette these days! (from Fall, 2021)
You mean it’s not just the Dems mis-handling and overspending the Dollar? The GBP is also affected? Or is it strictly because of supply lines and petrol shortages?
It is clearly greed. /chief liawatha
Well, the margarine is up the most, which makes sense since you should be using it to heat your home and not eating it.
It’s a growing community with chapters forming in all corners of the world! :)
“Well, the margarine is up the most, which makes sense since you should be using it to heat your home and not eating it.”
And putting CORN into our fuel tanks, when we should be making Corn Tortillas and other yummy stuff!
Who ARE these people, and why do they want to starve us out? (Never mind!)
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/cornmeal-recipes/
Actually, while this thread is about the UK, the exact same thing IS happening here.
Pasta keeps a long time. The best buy date on it is usually years out.
It is worth buying an extra box or two every time you go grocery shopping.
Dollar Tree always has a good supply of Pasta. Decent brand names, too. No shortages there. Yet. ;)
Pasta can get eaten by weevils.
I’ve noticed the local pasta sections have essentially no spaghetti, but still some of the other forms (elbow macaroni, penne rigate, egg noodles, etc).
Note that it’s made from a particular type of flour (semolina) and that may be in shorter supply.
That’s why I vacuum-seal mine and then freeze it for a couple of weeks before putting it on the shelf.
Well done. The freezing kills any bugs and eggs that may be lurking. All my dry goods rice, beans etc gets frozen before storage.
I've heard people say, "the bugs got into it." More often then not, you brought the bugs with you in the form of bug eggs...then they hatch after you've stored it. So....freez'em first.
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