RETAIL EXCELLENCE IRELAND has dismissed the findings of a recent report from the Consumer Association of Ireland.
The REI said the CAI report contradicts official statistics from the CSO by saying the price of ‘a typical basket of groceries’ has increased by 12 per cent, while the CSO report indicates that food and non-alcoholic beverage prices are down 6 per cent since 2008.
Since 2000, the CAI have been monitoring the price of a typical basket of the same branded groceries, including bread, milk, tea bags, sugar, butter, sausages, corn flakes, peas, washing up liquid etc. They say the basket contains branded goods that people are likely to have been buying for years because they have been marketed to all of their lives.
Dermott Jewell, CEO at Consumers’ Association of Ireland told TheJournal.ie that “the REI can attempt to dismiss the findings all they like but we’ve been tracking the price of the same branded products since 2000″.
Mr Jewell said that although the REI are correct in saying “an average basket of groceries has gone down” this does not reflect the price of an average basket of branded products. “No body is getting the value for money that they could be and should be getting out of this basket,” he added.
David Fitzsimons, CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland said “despite what this report states, none of our members are enjoying 12 per cent food price inflation over the last few years. REI members continue to offer great value and service even though they are operating in an extremely difficult trading environment”.
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