Food prices will not return to where they were before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the boss of Sainsbury’s has warned.

Chief executive Simon Roberts said a permanent rise in labour costs in stores and across the supply chain will keep prices higher on a permanent basis.

He said that while falls in commodity costs had driven recent price cuts in fresh food products, such as milk, butter, bread, pasta and rice, prices of packaged goods would be more stubborn.

‘We should just remember that energy costs are still high and labour costs have been elevated permanently,’ said Roberts.

‘We would expect inflation to continue to improve, but it’s not going to go back to where it was before because the cost of producing food is clearly elevated from where it was a year or two back.’ 

Warning: Sainsbury's chief exec Simon Roberts (pictured) said a permanent rise in labour costs in stores and across the supply chain will keep prices high

Warning: Sainsbury's chief exec Simon Roberts (pictured) said a permanent rise in labour costs in stores and across the supply chain will keep prices high

Warning: Sainsbury’s chief exec Simon Roberts (pictured) said a permanent rise in labour costs in stores and across the supply chain will keep prices high

Sainsbury’s increased pay for its 127,000 hourly paid workers in February, taking the annual increase to 10 per cent.

Sue Davies, head of policy at consumer group Which?, said the warning from the boss of Britain’s second biggest supermarket was bad news for the millions struggling to put food on the table. 

Sainsbury’s yesterday revealed trading results suggesting it is on course to make underlying pre-tax profits of £700million this year.

 The figure would be on a par with last year, which suggests it has been able to protect profits while shoppers struggle to put food on the table.

The supermarket chain argued it is protecting customers by investing more than £60million in price cuts on more than 120 essentials such as bread and toilet rolls.

#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealFooter {display:block; float:left; width:100%; margin-top:5px; background-color:#e3e3e3 } #fiveDealsWidget .footerText {font-size:10px; margin:10px 10px 10px 10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Inflation Fear Lurks, Even as Officials Say Not to Worry

While the Biden administration’s ambitious effort to salve the pandemic’s deep economic…

‘A kick in the teeth’: British mothers and pregnant women fear return to workplace

Companies recalling staff this month have been accused of not offering flexitime…

Full list of benefits that mean you’ll get cost of living payment worth £301 within weeks

MILLIONS of households on certain benefits will receive a £301 cost of…

‘Euphoric’ burst of spending expected off the back a Covid-19 vaccine

The economy could be boosted by a ‘euphoric’ burst of spending if…