This Is Jersey

BUSINESSES have asked the public not to blame them for soaring food costs.

Many consumers are claiming that food prices in particular have risen above the cost of GST and that shops are using the tax as an excuse to hike up prices.

But according to the Jersey Hospitality Association, the combination of the global food crisis and GST is the reason prices have climbed so much. With, for example, bacon and spaghetti up 28 per cent and bread up 17 per cent since the beginning of the year, businesses have had to increase their prices.

Several traders waited until the introduction of GST to avoid marking up their products more than once, therefore combining the new tax with the rise in food prices. This has made many Islanders assume that they are being cheated out of their money under the guise of GST, but Mario Pirozzolo, the vice-president of the JHA, said that this was not the case.