Senior executives from the UK’s main supermarkets denied they were making excess profits from high food prices, during a meeting with MPs in Westminster on Tuesday.

“We make four pence in every pound, which I don’t think is any example of profiteering. We are the most competitive we have ever been. We monitor our prices weekly,” said Gordon Gafa from Tesco.

“We make less than three pence in the pound. We have also seen profits step back and the input cost pressures that we’ve had have not been reflected in full at shelf-edge prices,” added Rhian Bartlett from Sainsbury’s.

Whilst most of the questioning by MPs related to the effect of higher prices on consumers, some issues about primary food production were also raised.

David Potts from Morrisons said table egg supplies were recovering after significant shortages due to tight financial margins and avian influenza.

“The eggs are starting to come through from the whole of the UK, including NI. I am hopeful and expecting to see a gradual normalising of the egg price,” he said.