Poundland owner Pepco has said consumers in the UK have been particularly wounded by higher costs of living, impacting spending.
In an update, the company said: “Specifically in the UK, the cost-of-living crisis has impacted customers’ disposable income as they scale back even on essential purchases in the short term.
“Our continued focus on reducing the costs of doing business means that we are able to offset some of our input inflation, allowing us to protect price for all of our cost-conscious customers whilst also absorbing some of the input inflation ourselves as evidenced by the decline in our gross margins.”
It comes as Lidl has become the first major supermarket in the UK to introduce a new label in stores that will help those who are struggling to pay for their food.
They launched the ‘Good To Give’ trustmark which aims to diversify the donations to UK food banks.
Shoppers looking to donate to food banks can find the labelled food on shelves across all Lidl stores in the UK.
The signage will feature on 30 products across all Lidl GB stores, including tinned fruit, noodles and veg.
Lidl GB chief executive Ryan McDonnell said: “We’ve been listening to feedback from our charity partners on how we can best support them at this time.
“Through these conversations it became clear we can play a leading role in helping those relying on food banks to maintain a more nutritious, balanced diet by encouraging our customers to donate a little differently.
“We hope that more retailers will adopt the ‘Trustmark’ so that we can work together as an industry to help more people access the balanced and nutritious diet that they need.”
Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly, added: “Through our work with local charities and good causes, supported by our latest community insights surveys, we can see how the cost of living crisis is causing steep rises in demand for food banks and front-line services.
This is only going to increase in the coming months. With the launch of this new initiative, Lidl is demonstrating that they are truly committed to finding innovative ways to support their customers and local communities.”
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