Watchdog Slams Supermarkets For Pandemic Price Hikes

The Consumer Council on Thursday took aim at supermarket chains ParknShop and Wellcome, saying they jacked up their prices last year, despite booming business during the pandemic and millions of dollars in government subsidies.

The watchdog called for the two chains to shoulder more social responsibility after its annual price survey found the companies had increased the prices of 65 percent of their goods by more than the rate of inflation.

While inflation was at 0.3 percent in 2020, the council found that the aggregate average prices of 230 products rose 1.9 percent compared to the year before.

Average prices of canned food increased the most – by almost 20 percent – as people stockpiled products like luncheon meat and canned soup.

Frozen food also became more popular during the first year of the pandemic, and the watchdog says the supermarkets increased prices by around five percent.

Meanwhile, prices for milk powder, nappies, and confectionery went down. The council said this might have been due to the collapse in visitor numbers to the city.

The watchdog said it was worrying that people have also had to pay more for staple foods during the economic downturn, with average prices for rice rising 4.7 percent, and noodles more than seven percent.

The council's chief executive, Gilly Wong, appealed to supermarket chains to manage their prices better and avoid increasing the costs of staple foods and daily necessities.

"Please be really stringent in increasing the price for consumers. Even better than that is to offer more discounts for different products during these difficult times. Because it is the economic downturn. Many people are suffering from less income or even no income for the household, but they still have to expend for the food and household items," she said.

The two chains told the watchdog that they have done precisely that.

ParknShop said its suppliers had also increased prices, and the company had shouldered part of the rising costs and had rolled out various discounts.

Wellcome, meanwhile, said it had also provided discounts and kept the prices of more than 300 daily necessities unchanged since September.

The supermarket chains were required by the government to offer discounts as a condition for receiving millions in wage subsidies. They received the taxpayer money despite their increases in sales as restaurants closed and people were stuck at a home due to the pandemic.