Research First has been looking into public perceptions in a number of areas that are typically used to manufacture talk of an ‘urban rural divide’. This month we were interested to find out the impact that Supermarket Food Pricing has on public perceptions of food producers. Do people think agriculture is taking profit at the expense of sustainability of the land? Do people think it is farmers and growers that cause prices to go up?

Our respondents were asked an open question to determine what they think is the main cause of rising prices of food in our supermarkets. Top responses were:

• Supply chain shortages combined with increased demand
• Inflation
• Supermarket greed / duopoly effects

Agriculture was mentioned by some. This was typically in relation to the cost of production increasing (fuel prices, labour shortages, fertiliser prices) and climate effects on crop yields rather than in relation to perceptions of profiteering.

Relative impact of a set of pre-identified factors was also tested. Inflation, retailer profit margins and Covid-19 related supply chain issues were the ones perceived to have the biggest impact.