The food industry will get a tax break to ease the effects of loadshedding on the cost of groceries. But the industry can do more to keep a basic basket of foods affordable, writes the head of the DG Murray Trust, David Harrison.
The Competition Commission has found that a large chunk of what retailers charge for foods such as bread, maize and milk goes into their profits, with the producers getting fairly little. But if food producers and sellers team up, they could make a basket of ten staple foods (such as maize meal, eggs and pilchards) up to 20% cheaper — as long as they’re willing to share information about their prices. Buy-in from the government could cut costs by another fifth.
Read the full article in Bhekisisa
