Brexit will ‘affect food choice and quality’

SHOPPERS will see “prices, quality and choice” hit by Brexit, a former Sainsbury’s boss has warned.

Justin King said consumers are “completely in the dark” over the effect leaving the EU will have on their shopping basket.

Speaking to BBC Panorama, he said it was “very clear” shoppers would face “higher prices, less choice and poorer quality” outside the bloc.

“Brexit, almost in whatever version it is, will introduce barriers,” he said.

“That makes it less efficient which means all three of those benefits – prices, quality and choice – go backwards.”

Mr King, who was chief executive of Sainsbury’s between 2004 and 2014, said putting up prices was the “last thing” any current supermarket boss would reveal.

However a monthly tracker showed the cost of an average basket of groceries rose sharply in June.

A basket of 35 popular items came to £83.04 – £1.67 more expensive than in May and 21p higher than this time last year, according to my Supermarket’s monthly Groceries Tracker found. It brought to an end a continued fall in the price of the basket.

Meanwhile a report commissioned by the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) warned that post-Brexit trade tariffs pose a “major risk” to the performance of Britain’s £28bn food and drink sector.

It said the introduction of tariffs on existing EU trade would heap further pressure on manufacturers already squeezed by higher import costs linked to sterling’s weakness.

It added that the sector also faces disruption if Brexit reduces access to EU workers, with the industry looking to attract 140,000 new staff by 2024 to fill a hole left by an ageing workforce.

It said a small number of businesses could benefit from lower costs by importing raw materials from markets outside the 27-nation bloc.

However, it said efforts by firms to prepare for life outside the EU Single Market and the Customs Union will be “extremely costly and prone to errors” unless the Government draws up a clear plan.

The pound’s plunge since last year’s referendum on EU membership has the potential to boost UK exports because it makes British goods cheaper for overseas buyers.

The UK’s 2.2% share of the global food and drink market currently lags behind France and Germany, at 4.7% and 5.6% respectively, the Food & Drink Federation report said.