The price of bread in three of Ireland’s largest supermarkets will drop by 10 cents today. 

The reduction will apply in stores run by Tesco, Aldi and Lidl and follows their decision last week to cut the price of butter by 40 cents. 

Earlier this year, food inflation hit 16% and independent TD Marian Harkins accused supermarkets of “price gouging”. 

Yesterday, the Government convened a meeting of the Retail Forum with supermarket bosses but TD Ged Nash said it had failed to deliver anything substantive. 

“It was the Government’s own idea that they would hold a supermarket summit to drive down the very high cost of groceries in this country that are way ahead of the rate of inflation and are certainly way ahead of the inward costs that are coming down all of the time,” Deputy Nash said. 

“We know that the annual shopping basket in Ireland this year is going to cost €1,200 more than it did this time last year.” 

FBCEJB A customer loads her shopping into an Aldi bag and trolley at the supermarket till check out counter in Wales UK KATHY DEWITT

Another meeting is scheduled for June and supermarket chains have committed to pass any reductions in input costs onto customers in the meantime. 

“What I’ve asked for is for them to show demonstrable evidence that they’ve made every effort to reduce the cost at the tills for the consumer,” Minister Neale Richmond said. 

“That where input costs have come, that the prices have come down [too]. So, that’s what we’re expecting on June 21st.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said there was a “lack of evidence” that price controls would work and noted they had been dropped in Spain because of “the impact that it would have on small retailers and retailers in rural areas”.

Main image: Bread in the bakery department of a Tesco store. Picture by: Alamy.com