Frozen food supermarket Iceland has come under fire from the Telegraph for raising prices faster than almost all of its rivals despite being run by the UK government’s cost of living tsar, Lord Richard Walker.

The Telegraph, citing Worldpanel data, reported that the supermarket’s year-on-year inflation was 5.8 per cent in April. This was the second highest rate among UK supermarkets, and well above the industry average of 3.8 per cent over the same period, which covered the four weeks to April 19.

It was also nearly double the official rate of food and drink inflation for April, which the ONS says stood at 3 per cent.

Responding to the data highlighted by the Telegraph, Iceland told the newspaper that May’s Worldpanel figures showed its inflation below the industry average at 2.6 per cent. In addition, it cut prices for more than 200 Iceland frozen products on Tuesday, the supermarket added.

Lord Walker told the Telegraph: “This is flawed methodology, based on a small panel questionnaire, over a few weeks in April – a moment in time when Iceland had some very specific lamb deals in place last year, which distorts the comparison. It also does not take into account new products and deals in place this year.

“We tirelessly track prices, investing where customers need it most, to ensure our prices are consistently lower than the market. Families are still under real pressure, which is why we are putting more money into deals, lower prices and value across frozen food and everyday favourites.”

In his role as cost of living tsar, Walker has previously warned petrol retailers not to “rip off households” by raising prices due to the blockade of the Straits of Hormuz as well as telling them not to “take the piss”, according to the Telegraph.

In May, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves urged supermarkets[IH1.1] to pass on savings from a number of tariff cuts it intends to bring in later in the year after voluntary price caps were roundly rejected by the industry. The government says it expects the cuts to save consumers £150 million a year if the savings are passed on, though it has no mechanism to do so.

The Department for Business and Trade has been approached for comment.

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