Iceland boss Richard Walker has urged the government to do more to help in the cost-of-living crisis, as some people now cannot afford to cook food from food banks. He also called for more government help for retailers and suppliers who are being forced to increase prices as their own costs rise.
Mr Walker told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, “I think the cost-of-living crisis is the single most important domestic issue we are facing as a country. It is incredibly concerning. We are hearing of some food bank users declining products such as potatoes and other root veg because they can’t afford to boil them,” reported The Guardian.
Walker said that food inflation is actually “pushing ten per cent” and was already on some items which require more expensive processing, adding that ‘the age of cheap food shopping in the UK might be over.’
“Systemically, if you look at it you could argue food has been too cheap for too long but [price increases] have to be matched in wages and productivity and everything in between,” he said. “We are doing everything we can, our customers are depending on us for that value, but of course the pressure is relentless and coming at us from all angles at the moment. We are not an endless sponge that can soak it all up.”