The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has alleged that tobacco companies and supermarkets have been colluding to fix the retail price of tobacco.  Most of the main players are named including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda plus tobacco firms Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco, who between them own the major cigarette brands. (more…)

Mysupermarket.co.uk has compared the cost of a basket of essential food items such as bread and milk and found that the price is 15% higher than this time last year. Significant increases were on bread which is up 20% and eggs which has seen a rise of over 50%. (more…)

The Competition Commission is likely to suggest that supermarkets who own land just to stop rivals building a store close by, could be forced to sell to competitors. The idea being that this will create more competition in the local area.

This maybe true in terms of getting a Sainsbury to compete with a Tesco but it’s very unlikely that any new supermarkets will enter the market. Will the big four of Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s accounting for over 75% of the market, all that will happen is that these supermarkets will cement their position as dominant players in the market.

Also, where people shop largely depends on which stor is closest to their house. Even if a rival opens up two or three miles away, customers may have a change occassionally but are unlikely to travel the extra distance every week.