Sainsbury’s to UK Government: Act now or food prices could jump sharply

London: The British government should ​step in to support the food sector to offset the impact of high energy costs caused by the Iran ⁠war and help keep a lid on grocery inflation, the ⁠boss of supermarket group Sainsbury’s said on ‌Thursday.

Britain is especially exposed ​to the energy price surge that followed the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran that began at the end of February and UK finance minister Rachel Reeves has ​said her focus during ⁠the war is keeping costs down for consumers and businesses.

Simon Roberts, the CEO of Sainsbury's which has a 15.6% share of the UK grocery market ⁠trailing ‌only Tesco, noted that other energy-intensive industries had already been given some support by the ‌government.

He said the whole food sector - farmers and grow.ers, producers, manufacturers ⁠and retailers - needed help with soaring energy bills.

"The single biggest thing the government ‌could do to help support keeping food ‌prices down is to make sure that ‌energy costs of the industry are not rising ‌faster," Roberts told reporters after Sainsbury's reported full-year results.

"Now is the time for government to really look at what ⁠they can do ... ⁠Now is the time to look at what's possible in the food (farming), manufacturing, processing and retailing sectors," he said.

UK food inflation rose to 3.7% in March, according to official data. Trade body the Food and Drink Federation has warned food prices will ​be rising by almost 10% by December. Tesco said ​last week it ​did not recognise that number.

Roberts said Sainsbury's "absolute focus" was on keeping prices ​as low as possible.