Competition Commission says essential food prices twice inflation rate
The Competition Commission says South Africans are paying more than they should be for food despite inflation having come down.
In a report released on Wednesday, the commission said prices were at twice the inflation rate for all goods and services.
The commission's spokesperson, Siyabulela Makunga, said some large food companies had recorded revenue increases as a result of price increases rather than volume growth.
He added producers have reported that load shedding costs have not had an impact on their businesses - except for poultry producers.
Bread and wheat prices fell by 10 per cent in the first quarter of the year, but producer and retailer prices for bread both rose by 3% in the same period.
"Since the advent of COVID-19, the commission has been actively monitoring the essential food prices and investigating factors driving food inflation. This ensures that there's transparency regarding the profit margin set by producers and retailers of these products."
Cooking oil prices have been declining since a year ago - but Makunga says retailers have been slow in bringing down those prices too.
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