by James Davey
LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) – The boss of British supermarket group Sainsbury’s has told Reuters his customers are buying more cheap frozen food to reduce waste and cope with “unprecedented” rises in the cost of life.
Chief executive Simon Roberts adds that consumers are “watching every penny and every pound”, visiting stores more often but buying less each time, and using technology to control their spending and avoid unpleasant surprises at checkout.
“In many ways, there is no instruction manual for the situation we are facing right now, these are unprecedented circumstances,” said Roberts, a retail industry veteran at the UK.
Britain’s cost of living crisis is deepening, with household pessimism hitting record highs.
Wages are struggling to keep pace with inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May and is heading towards double-digit rates. Food inflation is expected to reach 15% this summer and 20% early next year, according to some forecasts.
Market research institute NielsenIQ said on Tuesday that UK frozen poultry sales jumped 12% year on year in the four weeks to June 18.
To stay competitive, Sainsbury’s will spend £500m over the next two years to March 2023 to contain prices.
In April, the company reported lower earnings and its stock has fallen 23% so far in 2022. (Reporting James Davey; French version Federica Mileo, editing by Sophie Louet)
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