A London supermarket has put on display “dummy” Kenco smooth instant coffee to stop shoplifting as the price per jar has hit £10.50 due to inflation.
The Co-op in Walthamstow, north London has also placed “display only” coffee jars of Nescafe Gold Blend as prices have hit £9.35.
The jars of Kenco and Nescafe have a white label saying, “This product is a dummy, not for sale, please ask a member of staff for help.”
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the average price of coffee has shot up by 13% and some people have resorted to shoplifting to survive.
cost of living reaching new heights, my local co-op is now a grocery show room. also ft periodic tannoy announcements from mitie security that their cameras are watching you. bleak af pic.twitter.com/C8u7n7zBMf
— laura (@laura_estah) May 28, 2023
The government are looking into proposals that supermarkets should charge the lowest amount for kitchen cupboard essentials such as pasta, milk, cheese and bread.
“The British Retail Consortium (BRC) director of food and sustainability, Andrew Opie said, ‘Rather than recreating 1970s-style price controls, the Government should focus on cutting red tape so that resources can be directed to keeping prices as low as possible.”
A Co-op spokesperson said, “Protecting the safety of our colleagues is a priority and we know shoplifting can be a flashpoint for violence against shopworkers, so whilst this is not a nationwide policy, a store can decide to implement product security measures at a local level, if they are experiencing a particular issue.”
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