Tumbling pound will send food prices soaring
Like 'Marmite' you either love it or hate it... but nose-diving pound and Britain's reliance on imports will mean higher prices.
I predict we'll be seeing more 'FoodGate' battles between suppliers and supermarkets such as the 'MarmiteGate' with Tesco and Unilever, that was the moment of the new reality were consumer must adjust to this soon transformed landscape of inflationary spiral food cost.
There is actually nothing unusual about the process of a supermarket 'haggling' with its supplier over prices, every year is the same mantra... believe you me I know all about it.
Obviously supermarkets don't want to pay more for their products from their suppliers and, since they are engaged in a fierce price war with other supermarkets, They also don't want to pass on the higher cost to their customers.
The other side to the coin the plunging pound is good news for Britain. Exports will rise at the fastest rate for nearly a decade .
The bad news though, directly imported goods will be worst hit, such as wine ' Sob sob', meat and chicken, seasonal fruit and specialist products from Europe with prediction of a five per cent hike in prices.
With total retail spending in the UK at about £300 billion, a five per cent rise means shoppers will be faced with a £15 billion rise in bills.
Individual households could have to spend £300 more a year in supermarkets.
Consumers in Britain spend £8 billion on food and other day-to-day groceries per year, so a five per cent rise in prices would equate to around £300 per household
Among the worst affected are most Italian products in fact parmesan cheese, expected to go up by 15 per cent, while the price of both olive oil and coffee will soar by 20 per cent, as will sugar. Wine and chocolate are both set to rise by five per cent.
Prices inevitably will go up across the board. But I feel a tad more than five per cent.
More than half the products sold in UK stores are imported, which means that the 16 per cent drop in the value of the pound this year will hit retailers with direct cost rises of at least eight per cent.
Shoppers will inevitably face price rises on virtually all goods. Imported items will cost more, but so will things manufactured in the UK – thanks to the rising price of commodities such as petrol and raw ingredients.
Consumers have enjoyed nearly two years of cheaper groceries as struggling supermarkets battle for shoppers. The big drop in the value of the pound is already reverberating through the food industry as farmers, producers and retailers face up to rising input and sourcing costs. Unfortunately the crashing pound will hit everyone's pocket.
And longer term they will also face new, potentially more costly, conditions governing the flow of goods and people in and out of the country.