Cost of living: Shoppers ‘overcharged’ for branded goods including baby formula and baked beans, watchdog finds
Suppliers of branded goods including baked beans and pet food have “pushed up prices by more than their costs”, according to the competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been examining 10 product categories in a bid to see if shoppers, already struggling amid the continuing cost of living crisis, are being ripped off.
It said that while some increases were justified, to cover rising costs from elements such as energy and ingredients, there was clearly some profiteering – a finding the consumer group Which? described as “shocking”.
“The evidence collected by the CMA indicates that, over the last two years, around three-quarters of branded suppliers in products such as infant formula, baked beans, mayonnaise, and pet food – have increased their unit profitability and, in doing so, have contributed to higher food price inflation“, the regulator’s statement said.
It went on to explain, however, that the shifts were likely to have backfired somewhat as shoppers had clearly switched to cheaper, supermarket own brand, alternatives in a bid to save cash.
The regulator will hope that the competition will help prices of branded goods come down.
But brands told the inquiry that when their costs started to fall they would offer promotions to customers, rather than cut the standard costs of their products.
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‘This cannot carry on’
The CMA said that more study was needed, including in the baby formula sphere that has been the subject of work by Sky News and seen the World Health Organisation declare that families were being “exploited”.
However, it did find evidence of unjustified price increases, with costs to consumers up by 25% over two years, and cited concern that two companies, Danone and Nestle, control 85% of the market.
Calls for baby formula price cap will rise
By laying out the simple fact that the formula milk price rises parents face in the shops do not equate with the “input costs” of making the product, the CMA is putting the formula industry firmly in the spotlight.
It’s already being called out as profiteering by campaigners, but the regulator is now singling out the formula industry for further interrogation.
It says quite clearly: “Evidence suggests that branded suppliers of baby formula have also increased their prices by more than their input costs.”
This year Sky News has tracked the desperate measures some families are having to take to feed their babies – it’s upsetting, stressful and ultimately unsafe for babies.
Experts have warned the high prices have put the nation on the brink of a “public health crisis” and earlier this month the World Health Organisation told Sky News that families were being “exploited” on pricing.
The CMA also highlights that the formula milk market is different to other food products – it is dominated by two multinational manufacturers – and that the public health messaging around it needs improvement for parents.
All the brands on the market meet minimum nutritional standards. Whether you buy the cheapest brand from Aldi for just under £10 or the most expensive at nearer £20.
The next stage of the CMA’s work will take months, but it appears determined to establish what needs to change. The calls for a price cap are only likely to increase.
A spokesperson for Danone UK & Ireland, the makers of the Cow & Gate and Aptamil brands, said it had minimised price increases and launched smaller, lower-priced pack sizes to help parents’ budgets.
“In Danone’s experience the formula milk market is competitive. We are committed to best practices to maintain this and will work constructively on ways we can continue to deliver value and innovation to parents. We will also continue to engage with the CMA over the coming months,” they said in a statement.
A Nestle spokesperson told Sky News: “Our goal has always been to keep products affordable and accessible for parents while still paying fair prices to our suppliers, including farmers.
“There have been significant increases in costs but we have been working to cut our costs wherever possible and only increase prices as a last resort.”
The CMA also declared that it was going to review supermarket loyalty schemes in the next phase of its investigation.
Front and centre of that is the offering of promotions only to customers who sign up to their loyalty cards.
The industry group for manufacturers responded to the CMA’s conclusions by suggesting that the pricing reflected value.
Karen Betts, chief executive of The Food and Drink Federation said: “Across our sector margins are at a 40-year low, insolvencies have doubled and investment has dropped by more than a third.
“Shoppers in the UK can take some comfort from the fact that, even with the levels of inflation we’ve seen in recent months, food and drink prices here remain lower than average EU grocery prices.
“The UK grocery market is highly competitive and offers a wide choice of products at a range of prices.
“Where branded products are more expensive than own-brand, this is because of the constant investment in quality and innovation that brand-owners make.
“If that investment doesn’t happen here in the UK, the amount of imported food and drink will certainly go up – with consequences for jobs, competitiveness and food security.”
But Sue Davies, head of food policy at Which?, said of the CMA’s findings: “Its evidence reinforces Which?’s concerns that shoppers relying on convenience store branches of the big supermarkets, which rarely stock the cheapest own-brand ranges, may struggle to find more affordable food.”
She added: “It’s positive that the CMA is set to review supermarket loyalty pricing as a recent Which? investigation found these deals aren’t always as they seem.
“In September we asked the regulator to look at whether supermarkets could be hiking ‘regular’ prices to make it appear that loyalty scheme customers are getting a better deal than they really are.”
The regulator issued its update after previously finding that higher prices in stores were not the result of weak competition between supermarket chains.
The watchdog did, however, demand tighter rules over so-called unit pricing – costs per item covering versions of the same product – to bolster price transparency.
It also previously found that supermarket fuel operators had charged motorists an extra £900m in 2022 by raising their margins on both petrol and diesel sales.
UK
UK has no plans for conscription – but future decisions will respond to ‘new reality’, says minister
The UK is not considering introducing conscription to ready the country for a potential war – but decisions may be needed in the future to respond to the “new reality” we are now living in, a minister has told Sky News.
In an interview with Trevor Phillips, Latvian President Edgars Rinkeviks has urged European countries to follow his country’s lead and “absolutely” introduce conscription, conceding the continent is “quite weak” militarily.
Politics latest: Calls for European nations to reintroduce conscription
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‘Debate’ in Latvia about introducing conscription for women
Asked if the UK government is considering introducing the measure to boost the armed forces, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said it is important the UK does not find itself operating under “old assumptions” – and that it may be “decisions are needed in the future that respond to a new reality”.
He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We are not considering conscription, but of course we have announced a major increase in defence expenditure.
“We do have to recognise that the world has changed. The phrase ‘step up’ is used a lot. Europe does have to step up in terms of its own defence.
“President Trump isn’t actually the first president to say that, but he said it more loudly and with more force than his predecessors – so, I think we have got to recognise that moment.”
‘UK cannot cling to old assumptions’
He added: “When the world is changing as fast as it is, it’s important that we don’t cling on to old assumptions.
“I think the prime minister has played a tremendous role in recent weeks in responding to that situation and explaining it to the public.
“That is why the decision on increasing defence expenditure was needed.
“It may be why other decisions are needed in the future that respond to a new reality, and that we don’t find ourselves caught operating under the same assumption as we used to in the past when the situation has changed.”
‘Battlefield is changing’
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP but has not set out when this will be achieved. Ministers say a defence review to be published this spring will set out a “roadmap” to it.
The number is much lower than the US president has demanded NATO members spend on defence, with Mr Trump saying they should all be spending 5% – an amount last seen during the Cold War.
Asked if the “new reality” involved a bigger army, Mr McFadden said ministers were waiting for the conclusion of the review.
But he added: “One thing is for sure, you would not spend money today on the same things as you would 10 years ago.
“The experience of the three years of the war in Ukraine has shown just how fast the battlefield is changing in terms of cyber, drones, the use of intelligence.”
The Conservatives’ first policy announcement of last year’s general election campaign was that the party would introduce a new form of mandatory National Service for 18-year-olds.
Asked if the Tories still stood by the plan which was in their manifesto, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We are obviously not going to write our manifesto now, so I am not going to recommit to things in the previous manifesto.
“We’ll need to do the thinking properly. I am not going to speculate four years ahead of the election.
“I don’t think it was really exactly conscription that was being proposed, it was a National Citizen Service which is a bit different.
“The idea of getting younger people to do voluntary work and perform useful tasks is not a bad idea.”
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‘Right time’ to think about conscription
Last year, Britain’s former top NATO commander told Sky News it was time to “think the unthinkable” and consider introducing conscription.
General Sir Richard Sherriff, ex-deputy supreme allied commander of the military organisation, said: “I think we need to get over many of the cultural hang-ups and assumptions, and frankly think the unthinkable.
“I think we need to go further and look carefully at conscription.”
Police searching for the suspect in the Kent pub shooting on Valentine’s Day have recovered a body from the River Thames.
Lisa Smith, 43, was killed after she was shot outside The Three Horseshoes in Knockholt on the evening of Friday 14 February.
Later that night, the suspect, named as Edvard Smith, was believed to have fallen into the Thames from the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge which crosses the river at Dartford 17 miles away.
Lisa Smith
Around that time, the suspect’s car containing a handgun was found abandoned on the bridge and a man was seen on the wrong side of the barrier.
About a week after the shooting, Kent Police said they believed Edvard Smith had died after falling into the water.
The force has now said a body was found in the Thames near Rainham in Essex on Friday afternoon. It has not been formally identified but the suspect’s family have been told of the development.
Edvard Smith was known to Ms Smith and there had been no prior contact between the police and the victim or suspect.
‘So much commotion’
Following the shooting, the landlady of The Three Horseshoes, Michelle Thomas, told Sky News she heard two loud bangs that she initially “thought were fireworks” on the night of the attack.
She said there was “so much commotion – screaming, shouting, crying” and the shooting had left the community in “absolute shock”.
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CCTV captures sound of gunshots near fatal shooting site
She said Ms Smith, from Slough, had been to the pub before, “mostly in the summer” but “wasn’t a regular”.
Ms Thomas also said about 30 people were at the pub for dinner, while 20 more were in the bar as the incident unfolded just after 7pm.
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Kent Police said on Saturday: “A body has been recovered by police from the River Thames, which is being linked to a murder investigation in Knockholt.
“On Friday 14 February 2025, Lisa Smith, 43, was killed after she was shot outside a pub in Main Road. The suspect was known to Lisa and later that evening officers found his car abandoned on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. Enquiries established he had fallen into the water below.
“At around 3.45pm on Friday 7 March, a body was located near Rainham, Essex. Formal identification has not yet taken place; however, the man’s family have been informed.”
Parts of the UK are expected to be hotter than the Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol and the Amalfi Coast this weekend.
The country is set to reach the highest temperatures of the year so far, with central England heating up to 20C on Sunday.
Saturday is also set to reach temperatures in the high teens, with East Anglia, northwest England, the north Midlands and North Wales hitting 18-19C, the Met Office said.
Those temperatures are believed to be above average for this time of year.
Get the latest forecast for your area here
Craig Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said there are a “few exceptions” to the “fine and sunny” weekend weather, including areas in the far north of Scotland, but those areas will still be generally dry and sunny.
A map showing warm fronts over the UK on Saturday
Meanwhile, popular holiday destinations in Europe are expected to record cooler temperatures.
A high of 15C is forecast this weekend for Marbella on the south coast of Spain, a maximum of 17C is expected in Ibiza, and 18C is forecast for Sorrento on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
People were out in force on Saturday, enjoying the warmer weather. Pic: PA
Joggers run along the sea front in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
Pic: PA
Sky News meteorologist Chris England said the warm weekend is not expected to last, with conditions “cooling off from the North on Sunday night and through Monday”.
Colder fronts will start to move across the UK on Monday
By Wednesday the UK will experience wintry showers and cold temperatures
A spell of rain will move south across the country early next week, bringing the return of a few wintry showers in the North and North East.
“While there is uncertainty in the extent of rain and wintry showers through the middle of next week, there is higher confidence that below average temperatures will continue through the week, bringing a very different feel to the mild weather over the weekend,” deputy chief meteorologist Chris Bulmer said.
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Temperatures will drop back below average across the UK from Tuesday, according to the Met Office.
Rural spots in Scotland could plummet as low as -4C, with maximum daytime temperatures typically between 5-8C.
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