nickshanagher

In February this year two UBS economists argued that food might become a political issue in the first world as commodity prices put pressure on household budgets and the UK at that time seemed to them to be the country most at risk. Shoppers, they argued, based their understanding of inflation on the increases in high frequency purchases and their model suggested that prices of processed foods in the UK were rising 2.5% higher than they should be compared to the US, France and Germany. This might focus the attention of politicians. Six months later, the food industry seems to have been let off by the energy industry - with rises in petrol, gas and electricity prices making the headlines. However, the impact of the squeeze on consumer purchasing power is still being watched carefully. In comments to the FT this summer, Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, said his company needed to be very close to the consumer and needed to offer them more choice at different price points ...