// Tesco blasts some food suppliers for using inflation as an excuse increase prices further than necessary
// Chairman John Allan said it was “entirely possible” that food producers were taking advantage
Tesco chairman John Allan has said that some food suppliers may be using inflation as an excuse increase prices further than necessary, as cost-of-living pressures weigh on consumers.
Allan said it was “entirely possible” that food producers were taking advantage of the poorest in society, BBC News reported.
He said Tesco was trying “very hard” to challenge price rises it thinks are illegitimate.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
He added that Tesco was confronting firms it believed were increasing prices beyond what was necessary.
“We have a team who can look at the composition of food, costs of commodities, and work out whether or not these cost increases are legitimate,” he said.
Tesco had “fallen out” with “a number of suppliers” after “robust” discussions over price rises.
It comes after goods including Whiskas and Pedigree petfood, along with Heinz beans and ketchup, had disappeared from Tesco’s shelves last year following a pricing row.
