Tesco chair John Allan has said any impact on food prices due to Brexit will be “very modest indeed”, following the news of a deal between the UK and the EU last week.
Allan told the BBC the deal was a “good outcome” for retailers with any changes likely to be insignificant to shoppers.
He had previously warned that a no-deal Brexit could bring food prices up by between 3% and 5% but said the “tariff-free trade deal”, as promised by Boris Johnson, would make food price increases negligible.
He said: “The tariffs were the things that were going to generate the price increases.
“There’ll be a little bit more administration associated with importing and exporting, but in absolute terms, I think that will hardly be felt in terms of the prices the consumers are paying.”
Allan also previously predicted there could be some changes to the UK’s diet if prices increased as prices for imported goods such as brie cheese could have risen by 40% – but has now said Brexit will only have a “marginal effect” on what shoppers choose to buy.
He said he did not see any major advantages for the supermarket industry as a result of leaving the EU but suggested a Brexit deal would at least remove a “major distraction” as the country continues to recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “Certainly at Tesco – and I assume our competitors – we’re very keen to maintain food standards.
“We won’t be seeking food from other countries that have different and potentially lower food standards than us, so I don’t think it’s going to make any material difference.
“But it should enable us to address the challenges and opportunities our economy has got in a much more full-blooded way.”
He also added that he was confident that Tesco will continue to be able to keep its supermarkets in Northern Ireland supplied.
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