GREEDY firms are causing shoppers pain and risking inflation lasting longer with big price hikes, the Bank of England said.
Ben & Jerry’s, Marmite, and Dove maker Unilever all put up prices 11.2 per cent since the summer.
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Other cases include Bisto and Ambrosia maker Premier Foods increasing some of its products by more than 50 per cent, while Baked Beans brand Heinz has doubled prices of some brands.
The trend for prices going above inflation is dubbed in the US “greedflation”.
Catherine Mann, who is part of the Bank’s committee that sets interest rates, said the rises were higher than the Bank expected.
She told Bloomberg she was “concerned about the extent to which there is strong pricing power among firms and acceptance of those price rises by a lot of consumers”.
She added: “Even in the face of the cost of living crisis there still are a lot of people out there who are willing to pay higher prices and firms are willing to set those prices high.”
Ms Mann said further interest rate rises may be needed to tackle inflation.
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She warned that the pound could fall further.
It fell as low as $1.18 yesterday, down 1.10 per cent.
