Cheaper food is an illusion - Part two.

I hate to say I told you so but back on 9 July I posted an item about the illusion of cheaper food.

Now, three months later, The Times has just caught up with the idea and produced its own report backing up what I suggested was happening.

You can read the article here, and my latest response, which they might not publish, is below:

Don't you just love the PR spin from the industry spokesperson when they said:"Food manufacturers are trying to help consumers by reducing the frequency of price increases, but unfortunately they are sometimes doing this by downsizing their products."

HaHaHa - "Unfortunately" - they make it sound as though it were an accident - when in fact it is a very deliberate policy that to many people probably looks like blatant deception.

The food retailers are not "trying to help consumers" - they are just trying to help themselves.
Now perhaps you will understand how it is that the big supermarkets have been able to boost their margins and profits during what is supposed to be a major economic downturn - by charging more for less - simple!

Maybe they think that the majority of the British public are innumerate lazy mugs who "ain't bovvered" about "stuff like, you know, like, thinking".

Or maybe they just don't care if consumers know they are being stung because they know that the British public have little real choice because the big retailers have practically cornered the market so that, even without collusion, they appear to act in a semi-monopolistic manner.

The bigger question is what does this say about the real rate of inflation? I am pretty certain the CPI/RPI stats don't reflect this "downsizing" - so as we all suspected inflation is probably higher than the published figures.

Blessings for honesty and transparency.


Father Ignatius Brown