Mark Jones reacts to rising food prices in The Independent

Mark Jones, partner at Gordons and an expert in the food and drink supply chain, has been quoted in national press including The Independent reacting to rising food prices as UK inflation reached 3.2%.

As reported in the piece, the consumer prices index (CPI) rose by 1.2 percentage points from July to August owing to higher food costs, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. CPI monitors changes in the value of a basket of goods containing items regularly bought by typical British households.

Mark said: “Food prices will rise, it is inevitable. Shipping costs have quadrupled, HGV drivers are nowhere to be found and with 36% of EU workers leaving the UK post-Brexit, there just isn’t enough labour to harvest the fruit and vegetables and keep prices low.

“The bad news is that we can expect prices to keep rising into 2022. Most grocery retailers agree supply agreements which run in line with the calendar year and it is rare for retailers to agree to price rises in that period if they have agreed a fixed price for a fixed period with a supplier.

“Grocery retailers will be in the process of retendering now, suppliers will increase their prices and those price rises will kick in in January. Food will be even more expensive next year.”

You can read Mark’s comment on The Independent here.