George Weston, CEO at ABF, also said food price inflation had peaked and would now start to ease
The chief executive of the Kingsmill owner Associated British Foods (ABF) has warned Rachel Reeves not to give consumer sentiment “another whack” in her upcoming budget, despite signalling that food price rises had peaked and will now start to ease.
George Weston, the chief executive of the ABF conglomerate which also owns the fashion chain Primark and produces sugar and cooking ingredients, said recent food price inflation had been driven by employers passing on increases to labour costs announced in Reeves’ first budget as chancellor last year.
He said most retailers had now passed these costs on and “food inflation will be gradually easing from now” as the cost of commodities was “pretty benign”.
Grocery inflation stood at 5% in August, according to the latest data from analysts Worldpanel, contributing to wider inflation, which rose to 3.8% in July.
