§ 14. Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if she is satisfied that there is no undue profiteering by supermarkets on the sale of sherry.
Mr. Alan WilliamsThe Price Code limits the profit that any supermarket can make on its business as a whole. Traders are free to take a higher margin on an individual product such as sherry, provided their margins on other goods are correspondingly lower.
§ Mr. McCrindleBut with such wide price variations as 42p on a bottle of Celebration Cream and 30p on a bottle of Emva Cream, is the hon. Gentleman absolutely satisfied that this is simply a matter of those employing the lower prices using sherry as a loss leader, and that there is no element of profiteering? Is he sure that the very broad range to 22 which I have referred squares with the Price Code?
Mr. Alan WilliamsIt does square with the code. I read the points which the hon. Member made in his comments to the newspapers, and in virtually every instance the price he quoted was below the manufacturer's recommended price. I am sure that he would not wish to deny the consumer the advantage of lower prices. I conclude from the hon. Gentleman's interest in the matter that he has become an enthusiastic convert to the price information service that we have started, because it is clear that the public stand to benefit from having price comparison information available on a whole range of products.