HC Deb 11 February 1948 vol 447 cc64-6W
57. Mr. J. Morrison

asked the Minister of Food what is the retailer's margin of profit per adult ration and per lb., on all rationed foods including sweets, and how the current profit per lb. compares with that prevalent before the war.

Mr. Strachey

I give below a table showing representative current gross retail margins. The net profit element in each cannot be stated because it is impossible to isolate the costs attributable to each commodity in respect of such factors as wages and overheads.

Following is the table:

TABLE OF REPRESENTATIVE GROSS RETAIL MARGINS ON RATIONED FOODS.
Rationed Commodity. Description Current retail Margin per Unit. Normal Adult's Weekly Ration. Retail Margin per Normal Adult's Weekly Ration. Remarks.
d. d.
Bacon … All cuts averaged Weights are boneless 4.20 per lb. 2 oz. .53
Sugar … Granulated delivered to retailer in bags containing 2 cwt. or more. .50 per lb 8 oz. .25
Tea … Representative margin on pre[...]packed brands selling at a price o[...] 3s. 4d. per lb. 5.50 per lb 2 oz. .69
Cheese … 2.26 per lb 2 oz. .28
Butter … Delivered to retaile[...] in bulk 2.87 per lb 3 oz. .54 On an average ration o[...] 3 oz. per week.
Margarine … Pre-packed Special 1.75 per lb 4 oz. .44
Cooking Fat … Delivered to retailer in bulk 1.77 per lb 1 oz. .11
Shell Eggs … Delivered to retailer in bulk .30 per egg 1 egg .30 Assuming one allocation per week.
Meat … Average of all cuts 3.20 per lb. 1s. 3.00
Milk … Margin for retailers in England, but outside London, for receiving undesignated milk from farms and delivering it in its raw state to consumers including the cost of bottling. 1.38 per pint 2 pints 2.75 Where the milk is heat-treated by the retailer in the premises on which it is bottled the margin is 1.59d. per pint, equivalent to 3.19d. per weekly ration.
Preserves … Average of controlled varieties in 1 1b. containers. 2.17 per lb. 4 oz. .54 Assuming that sugar is not purchased in lieu of preserves

NOTE.—The above margins can only be taken as average or representative because of variations in quality, as in Tea, in type, as in Meat and Preserves, and in purchase terms where bulk discounts are customary.

Owing to the wide range of products included in the sweet ration it is impossible to give an average current retail margin for sweets without a disproportionate use of time and labour.

Wide variations due to differences in quality and type as well as to local circumstances make it impossible to supply comparable figures for pre-war margins which would not be misleading.