MPs are set to question supermarkets following concerns of profiteering as food prices continue to rise.
On 27 June, supermarket bosses, including Morrisons CEO David Potts, will be questioned by the business committee over the causes of food and fuel price rises, The Sunday Times reported.
Gross profit margins of grocery giants Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons will also be scrutinised.
Last week, former boss of Sainsbury’s, Justin King, rejected claims that British supermarkets are profiteering during the cost-of-living crisis.
He said that the government and regulators should focus on helping those in need instead of considering “interfering in markets”.
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Earlier this month, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said that the industry has “worked really hard on efficiency,” however added that its “operating margins are falling, despite really strong top line sales growth”.
“That can only be attributed to the fact that we’re investing really heavily in value.”
He insisted that Tesco had “reacted quickly” when commodity prices came down, referencing that in the past two months the leading retailer has dropped the price of milk and pasta by 16%, and bread by 12%.
MPs will also be investigating fuel prices as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the average 2022 supermarket pump prices are around 5p per litre more expensive than they would have been had their average percentage margins remained at 2019 levels.
Its evidence also showed at least one supermarket had “significantly increased” its internal forward-looking margin targets over the period.
This comes as Asda is set to acquire EG Group’s UK and Ireland operations for an enterprise value of £2.27bn, which will see it obtaining 350 petrol filling station sites.
While Asda said it is committed to offering the lowest supermarket fuel prices, Labour MP Darren Jones told The Sunday Times: “There is some concern around Asda’s leveraging. While it’s not for parliament to tell firms how to run their business, if that blows up, it can have serious consequences.”
