In Kent, the summer fruit came early and
keeps on coming. Almost 2,000 pickers
are employed across this company's farms
in the county. Without them, there is no
harvest. But the cost of paying them is
booming, too. Increases in the minimum
wage and employment taxes have pushed
the payroll here up by4 million.
>> Is it getting more expensive to grow a
strawberry?
>> Absolutely more expensive. About 60% of
our cost is labor. Our biggest impact on
our industry is is wages and wages are
not going to come down. Um so I can't
see in any way prices falling on food,
fresh food production. They're just
going to keep going up. Our worry is
will they go up to a point where the
consumer won't want to pay them when we
can import cheaper from abroad.
>> Consumer price inflation rose to 3.8% in
July, up 0.2 percentage points and close
to double the Bank of England's target.
And food inflation was a major factor
having briefly dipped below the level of
general inflation. It increased to 4.9%
and the gap is widening. Supermarkets
face higher staff costs too and say
competition is keeping prices in check.
But some staples are still rising
sharply. Even a basic bag of shopping
tells us a lot about how fast some
prices are rising. Beef 24% more
expensive than it was. Coffee is up 18%.
Chocolate and butter are both 17%
pricier than they were. And even a pint
of milk, up 11% in a year. If it feels
like your shopping is getting more
expensive, well, it really is. And that
is a challenge for a government that
promised to put more money in people's
pockets.
>> Well, price rises are disappointing for
everybody. We've seen energy prices come
down in July, but they're still too
high. That's why it's so important that
we keep easing the cost of living, keep
acting on that.
>> The higher inflation figures today,
which have almost doubled since the
election is a damning indictment on the
failings of this Labor government,
they're putting all of us under cost of
living pressures. Rising airfares also
pushed up inflation and July's figures
could set the price for railfare
increases in the new year. More
immediately, the chances of another
interest rate cut in September may have
receded. Labour's second budget will
need to bear fruit and fast if the
economy is to change direction when
summer turns to autumn. Paul Kelso, Sky
News.