§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will make a further statement on the price of tea.
§ Mr. HattersleyI have today received a letter from the Chairman of the Price Commission, which is printed below, about the retail price for medium quality tea last week. The letter makes clear that recent reductions in the price of tea bring the retail prices of medium quality tea down to levels consistent with those recommended by the Price Commission in its report on tea prices—Price Commission Report No. 32, "Tea Prices". The Price Commission also expects further reductions in the retail price. In the light of its findings, I do not propose592W to make a statutory order to reduce the price further, as such action is no longer necessary.
The text of the letter is as follows:
At your request I am reporting to you on the results of the Commission's monitoring of prices at retail level of a quarter pound packet of medium-priced tea. Our latest survey took place on 16th March 1978.Co-op 99 was retailing on that date at 22p, and this price was in general observable throughout the Co-Operative network. As fat as other national brands are concerned, we monitored Lyons QB, PG Tips and Typhoo. In supermarkets and multiple grocers these teas were available at prices of 21½p-22½p, although we did observe instances where the price was considerably higher. In independent retailers these teas were available at 22p-24½p, although again in a number of cases, higher prices, and in some cases considerably higher prices, prevailed.We noted that the modal price for PG Tips and Lyons QB in independent retail outlets did not change between 9th March, the date of our previous survey, and 16th March, although during that week the average for all teas declined significantly. Our belief is that where higher prices prevail, either in multiple grocers or in independent retailers, the shops are working off stock purchased before the decline in blenders' selling prices, and we are inclined to believe that average prices may well decline further over the next few weeks or so as these stocks are worked off.There is also evidence to show that private label blends, for instance Sainsbury's Red Label at 19½p, are selling extremely well and picking up market share.