Twenty three business representative groups have jointly urged Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney not to introduce a statutory cap on some food and drink prices.

The plea comes ahead of this week’s expected Programme for Government.

The joint letter was submitted to the First Minister on 27 August. Signatories represent sectors including retail, food and drink production and manufacturing, and distribution, which together employ 300,000 people across Scotland.

It stressed that a statutory cap would not address the root causes of elevated food prices: rising production, refrigeration, and distribution costs.

It would also not help limit supply chain shocks after Covid and conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, which have pushed up fertiliser, fuel, and energy costs.

Additionally, taxes on employment and packaging have – as the Bank of England has pointed out – added further pressure, with costs cascading through farming, food manufacturing, refrigeration and distribution.

Signees include Food and Drink Federation Scotland, GB Potatoes, Provision Trade Association, Dairy UK, Scottish Bakers, Logistics UK and Quality Meat Scotland.

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The letter added that these groups share the Scottish government’s ambition to grow the economy, improve living standards, and keep down the cost of living for Scots.

It stated: “We recognise there are differing views on how best to ease the cost of living, particularly for less affluent households. However, we jointly believe the mooted Statutory Food Price Cap is unnecessary, ineffective, and likely to deliver significant adverse consequences. This is despite the assurances you have sought to provide to primary producers. The impacts upon retailers, food and drink producers, and shopworkers in themselves are undesirable but the effect will be to increase, rather than decrease, the cost of household goods.

“Grocery retailers and food producers take their responsibility to provide affordable, quality food seriously. Scots benefit from western Europe’s most affordable grocery and food supply market. That is the result of retailers and the whole food supply chain in Scotland working in partnership to deliver the best food produced in the highest quality conditions at the lowest prices for consumers.

“Instead, Scottish Ministers should withdraw the Food Price Cap proposal, let our intensely competitive food retail market continue to deliver the best prices possible, and work with retailers and the supply chain to tackle the factors which are leading to elevated prices.”