Food price inflation will stay low this year, says Sainsbury's boss

Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts says that food price inflation will likely stay in the “low single digits” for the rest of the year.

Food price inflation peaked at 15.7% 12 months ago and has since fallen back to 3.7% according to data from the British Retail Consortium and NiQ. Prices started soaring in September 2021 due to a combination of labour shortages, supply chain disruption and higher energy costs, followed by the war in Ukraine.

“We see (food) inflation continuing to stabilise,” Roberts said. “It has come down and we expect it to stay in low single digits.”

For the 52 weeks to March 2, Sainsbury’s saw its revenues rise 3.4% to £36.3billion. However, its annual pre-tax profits dropped 15.3% to £277million due to restructuring costs at its financial services division. Although clothing and fuel sales were down, its grocery and general merchandise sales rose by 9.4% and 1.2% respectively, aided by price cuts.

Under Roberts, Sainsbury’s has gained its market share and increased its grocery sales, thanks to price reductions funded by efficiency savings. He said that Sainsbury’s has “real momentum” and is confident of delivering strong profits growth this year.

Elsewhere, consumer goods giant Unilever says that its turnover rose 1.4% to Eur15billion (£12.9billion) due to shoppers returning to buying brands. All five of its divisions, beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition and ice cream, saw sales growth.