‘Golden era’ of cheap food over as two in five Britons buy less to eat

theguardian.com:

Households have been warned that the UK’s “golden era” of cheap food is over, as official figures published on Friday pointed to the toll of the cost of living crisis, with two in five people buying less food to get by.

The former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King said shoppers now faced hard choices over how to spend their money as the financial shock, caused by the war in Ukraine, pushes up prices on supermarket shelves.

“We have been perhaps through a golden era,” said King, a senior figure in the retail industry who also sits on the board of Marks & Spencer. This would now have to change, he added, with people forced to rethink priorities in their family budgets.

“I suspect what we will see is a higher proportion, across the piece, spent on food for the longer term.”

His concerns were echoed by senior figures across the retail and farming industries, as households prepare to weather a surge in inflation.

Economists believe official statistics next Wednesday will show that overall prices increased 9% in April, while the Bank of England is forecasting the rate will pass 10% later this year, the highest since 1982.

The head of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents all the major supermarkets, agreed that “consumers are in for a difficult time”. Global food prices are at a record high, propelled by growing energy and transport costs, as well as an extremely tight labour market, its chief executive Helen Dickinson said.

Fierce competition among supermarkets has so far limited price rises on essential products, but Dickinsonsaid pressures in the food industry “do not look to be easing anytime soon”.

The cost of living crisis is already forcing people to make big changes. Two in five adults are buying less food when they