Greedflation? Food Brands Might Be Taking Advantage of Shoppers, Alleges Tesco Chairman.

Costs at the grocery store and gas pump have spiked amid inflation, but it might not all be as inevitable as it seems.

John Allan, chairman of Tesco (one of Britain’s largest supermarket chains), told the BBC that it was “entirely possible” that food producers are taking advantage of the situation — and lower-income consumers.

Allan said Tesco is challenging companies it believes are unnecessarily increasing prices: “We have a team who can look at the composition of food, costs of commodities, and work out whether or not these cost increases are legitimate.”

But consumer group Which? claimed that Tesco and other supermarkets might just be deflecting the blame, CNBC Monday reported.

According to Which?‘s latest Supermarket Inflation tracker, December food and drink inflation was at 15% year-over-year across eight major supermarkets, with own-brand products seeing higher rates of inflation (18.5%) compared to branded items (12.5%).

“Despite more people opting for own-brands and basic products to help them through the cost of living, these ranges have been subject to higher rates of inflation than premium and branded foods,” Reena Sewraz, Which? retail editor, told CNBC.